
Ben Barenholtz
Production
Biography
Ben Barenholtz (October 5, 1935 – June 27, 2019) was a Polish-born American film producer, exhibitor, and distributor with a significant presence in the independent film scene since the late 1960s. In 1968 Barenholtz opened The Elgin Cinema in New York City which was known for its experimental midnight screenings of new filmmakers. Barenholtz was known for his eye in discovering new directors such as The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, John Sayles and Guy Maddin, and was the first to bring Cousin Cousine, and John Woo's The Killer to the American screens. He is often credited with launching and being a close collaborator of the Coen Brothers. He developed and produced a number of cult movies including Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing and Requiem for a Dream. Barenholtz appeared in the documentary The Hicks of Hollywood, had a bit role in Liquid Sky, and appeared as a zombie in Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead. He was the subject in Stuart Samuels' 2005 documentary Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream. In 2005 Barenholtz directed his first feature, Music Inn, a documentary about the famed jazz venue and was the producer of Jamie Greenberg's feature film Stags. In 2012, he produced Suzuya Bobo's first feature, Family Games. In 2012 he directed and produced Wakaliwood: The Documentary, shot in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. In 2016, he received the Berlinale Camera award from the Berlinale Film Festival to honor his contributions to the independent film scene. Barenholtz directed his first and only fiction film, Alina, starring Darya Ekamasova, which was released in the fall of 2017. At the time of his death he was developing the sequel to Alina as well as working on an autobiographical film, Aaron. He died on June 27, 2019, in Prague, Czech Republic, at the age of 83. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ben Barenholtz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For

During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Dawn of the Dead

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
Blood Simple

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.
Miller's Crossing

A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Barton Fink

After years of being browbeaten and walked on, a man wakes one day wearing an expressionless mask, fitted with a personality that enables him to take revenge.
Bruiser

Sadie looks up to her older sister Georgia, a successful folk singer. Unfortunately it is this very obsession — coupled with her self-destructive tendencies and rampant drug abuse — that keeps her spiraling down the drain.
Georgia

From "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" to "The Big Lebowski" and everything in between, this fascinating deep-dive documentary begins its celebration of the greatest cult movies of all-time discussing the birth of the midnight movie.
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness

An alien creature invades New York's punk subculture in its search for an opiate released by the brain during an orgasm.
Liquid Sky

A young man, convinced he's a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvanian town, where he tries to suppress his bloodlust.
Martin

An ill-fated, tender romance between an adult white male tutor and his 17-year-old African-American female student.
Bleeding Hearts

A man takes matters into his own hands when a pharmaceutical kingpin moves into his town to cause some real trouble.
The Naked Man

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

Sloane and her boyfriend Barrett return to her childhood home determined to ruin her father Roan's re-marriage. Family secrets surface and give rise to a puzzling future.
Family Games

Alina is an independent, ultra low-budget film showing the odyssey of a young Russian woman, Alina, who arrives in the city to find her father with only a 25-year-old photo in her possession.
Alina

Jack and his pals are NYC bachelors in their super-late 30s who have spent two decades chasing women and fleeing commitment. When a childhood friend’s sudden tragic marriage shakes up their world of sex and booze, Jack realizes he just may be ready to commit to the one woman hopelessly out of reach.
Stags

Emma's quiet beach retreat takes an unsettling turn with the arrival of an enigmatic artist out of her mother's past. He challenges, enthralls, and frightens her, as she comes to suspect him of a terrible crime.
Beach House

A stop-motion film, written, animated, & directed by Dan Blank.
Shadowplay

During a decade rife with paranoia, in the middle of the McCarthy era, Music Inn was a bold experiment. Halfway between the Second World War and The Civil Rights Movement, Phil and Stephanie Barber created an oasis in the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts where aspiring musicians came to learn from the very best. Students and faculty, young and old, rich and poor, white, black, and brown convened together and learned from each other. Defying the surrounding environment, Music Inn harbored a racial and cultural harmony where music was all that mattered.
Music Inn

A loving husband and father, Isaac is an unlikely multi-hyphenate action filmmaker working from his home in the slums of Wakaliga, Uganda. This funny, touching and inspiring story celebrates the art of filmmaking and the pure joy of creativity.