The ever atrophying health of US film culture suffers another bleeding setback. Via the New York Times:
"New Yorker Films, the distributor that helped introduce American moviegoers to the works of Bernardo Bertolucci, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Ousmane Sembène, announced on Monday that it was going out of business after 44 years.
"One of the most influential distributors of foreign and independent films, New Yorker has amassed a library of more than 400 titles, including Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless and Claude Lanzmann’s epic Holocaust documentary Shoah, said Dan Talbot, who founded the company in 1965.
"Mr. Talbot, 82, said in a telephone interview that the company was going out of business because its library was being sold. It had been pledged as collateral on a loan taken out by its former owner, Madstone Films, which bought New Yorker Films in 2002.
"The library could be auctioned off as early as next week, he added."
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Among New Yorker's other titles are Maurice Pialat's Palme d'Or winner Under the Sun of Satan, starring Sandrine Bonnaire (top photo); Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower; the Academy Award-winning Holocaust drama The Counterfeiters; Pedro Almodóvar's Volver, starring Penélope Cruz; and Errol Morris' documentary on torture, Standard Operating Procedure.
On their website, a brief notice reads:
"After 43 years in business, New Yorker Films has ceased operations.
"We would like to thank the filmmakers and producers who trusted us with their work, as well as our customers, whose loyalty has sustained us through the years."
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That's very sad news. New Yorker has been a great distributor of independent and foreign films. It's our loss.