Ben Barenholtz

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.

Early years

Ben Barenholtz was born Berl Barenholtz on October 5, 1935, in Kupiczów, Poland, to Aaron and Paula Barenholtz, the youngest in a family of four. He has one older brother, Rubin. Being Jewish, the Barenholtz family spent the war years living in the forest in hiding from Ukrainians collaborating with the Germans. They survived thanks to the help of Władysław Kotowski's family from the Gruszówka village, who sheltered them in the barn during the Ukrainian roundup. In 1947, Ben and his mother immigrated to the United States. After four years of schooling, Ben decided it was not for him, and began working. In 1957, Barenholtz joined the army, serving in Germany in 1958. He came back to New York in 1959, and landed his first job in film as the assistant manager of the RKO Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York.

The Village Theater

From 1966–68, Barenhotlz managed and lived in the Village Theater, which ultimately became the Fillmore East. At the Village Theater, Barenholtz provided a home for the counterculture, with appearances by Timothy Leary, Stokley Carmichael, Rap Brown, Allen Ginsberg, and Paul Krassner. Some of the first meetings of the anti-Vietnam War movement, including Poets Against Vietnam, were held at the Village Theater. It was also a major music venue, with performances by The Who, Leonard Cohen, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Nina Simone, and many others. It also provided a space for Yiddish Vaudeville and Chinese operas.

In 1968, the theater was bought by Bill Graham, who turned it into the Fillmore East, and Barenholtz went on to acquire the Elgin.

The Elgin

In 1968, Barenholtz opened the Elgin Cinema. Approaching The Film-Makers' Cooperative, Barenholtz suggested the Elgin would be a good place for experimental films, and was given Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls and $48 to get the theater started. The following month, Barenholtz decided to book the theater himself.

The Elgin became the world's most innovative specialty and revival house, re-launching the films of Buster Keaton and D. W. Griffith, running a variety of independent films by young American directors, and screening cult, underground, and experimental films for the emerging counter cultural audience.

The films of Stan Brakhage, Jack Smith, Kenneth Anger, and Jonas Mekas, as well as early works by Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, all played at the Elgin. The First International Cat Film Festival, and an early Woody Allen tribute (pre-"Sleeper") were also held at the Elgin.

Barenholtz developed new ways of screening movies. He began screening dance and opera films on Saturday and Sunday morning, and created the "All Night Show" movies starting at midnight and ending at dawn. Most notably, Barnenholtz originated the "Midnight Movie" in 1970 with Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo, which ran for six months, seven days a week, to sold-out audiences. John Lennon eventually bought the film. John Waters' Pink Flamingos followed El Topo at midnight, then Perry Henzell's The Harder They Come.

Distribution

Barenholtz's first foray into distribution began with King of Hearts by Philippe de Broca. Still in exhibition, he bought the state rights for New York, and began exclusively playing the movie at the Elgin, and another theater near Lincoln Center.

His next film, and his first full film in distribution, was Les Enfants Terribles by Jean Cocteau and Jean-Pierre Melville, an old film that had been re-released. While acquiring the film, he created his own distribution company, Libra Films, which was later bought by the Almi Group, which he stayed with until forming Circle Releasing in 1984.

Libra Films

In 1972 Barenhotz formed the specialty distributor Libra Films. The first film that Libra Films distributed was a revival of Jean-Pierre Melville's Les Enfants Terrible, followed by Claude Chabrol's Just Before Nightfall, and Jean-Charles Tacchella's Cousin, Cousine, which became one of the highest-grossing foreign films in the United States and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Around this time, Barenholtz left the Elgin.

While at Libra, Barenholtz also launched and distributed, among others, George Romero's Martin; John Sayles' first feature, Return of the Secaucus Seven; David Lynch's first feature, Eraserhead; Karen Arthur's first feature, Legacy; Earl Mack's first feature, Children of Theater Street; and Péter Gothár's Time Stands Still, which won the New York Film Critic's Award for Best Foreign Film.

Barenholtz sold Libra Films to the Almi Group in 1982, but stayed with the company, becoming President of Libra-Cinema 5 Films. After a year and a half, he left Almi, and formed Circle Films, in partnership with Jim and Ted Pedas, which continued distributing films, including the Coen Brothers' first film Blood Simple, among others.

Films in distribution

Film	Director	Year	Company
Les Enfants Terribles	Jean Pierre Melville	1950	Libra Films
Night of the Living Dead	George Romero	1968	Libra Films
The Witness	Péter Bacsó	1969	Libra Films
Where There's Smoke	André Cayatte	1973	Libra Films
Just Before Nightfall	Claude Chabrol	1975	Libra Films
Le Secret	Robert Enrico	1975	Libra Films
Touch and Go	Philippe De Broca	1975	Libra Films
A Woman's Decision	Krzysztof Zanussi	1975	Libra Films
Maitresse	Barbet Schroeder	1975	Libra Films
Camouflage	Krzysztof Zanussi	1976	Libra Films
Eraserhead	David Lynch	1976	Libra Films
Cousin Cousine	Jean-Charles Tacchella	1976	Libra Films
The Judge and The Killer	Bertrand Tavernier	1976	Libra Films
Caro Michele	Mario Monicelli	1976	Libra Films
Nea, The Young Emmanuelle	Nelly Kaplan	1976	Libra Films
Children of Theater Street	Robert Dornhelm and Earl Mack	1977	Libra Films
Sebastiane	Paul Humfress & Derek Jarman	1977	Libra Films
Consequence	Wolfgang Petersen	1977	Libra Films
Martin	George A. Romero	1978	Libra Films
Themroc	Claude Faraldo	1978	Libra Films
Jubilee	Derek Jarman	1978	Libra Films
Asparagus	Suzan Pitt	1979	Libra Films
Meetings With Remarkable Men	Peter Brook	1979	Example
Eboli	Francesco Rosi	1979	Almi
Return of The Secaucus 7	John Sayles	1979	Libra
Ashram	Wolfgang Dobrowonly	1981	Libra
Blood Wedding	Carlos Saura	1981	Libra
The Atomic Cafe	Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader and Pierce Rafferty	1982	Libra
Time Stands Still	Péter Gothár	1982	Almi
Irezumi	Yoichi Takabayashi	1982	Almi
A Woman in Flames	Robert van Ackeren	1983	Almi
Il quartetto Basileus	Fabio Carpi	1983	Almi
The Family Game	Yoshimitsu Morita	1984	Circle Releasing Corp.
Blood Simple	Joel & Ethan Coen	1984	Circle Releasing Corp.
My Sweet Little Village	Jiří Menzel	1985	Circle Releasing Corp.
Letter to Brezhnev	Chris Bernard	1985	Circle Releasing Corp.
No Surrender	Peter Smith	1986	Circle Releasing Corp.
Rouge Baiser (Red Kiss)	Vera Belmont	1986	Circle Releasing Corp.
Thérèse	Alain Cavalier	1986	Circle Releasing Corp.
The Go Masters	Junya Sato & Duan Ji-Shun	1986	Circle Releasing Corp.
Pavoratti In China	DeWitt Sage	1986	Circle Releasing Corp.
Salvation	Beth B	1987	Circle Releasing Corp.
The Houses are Full of Smoke	Allan Francovich	1987	Circle Releasing Corp.
Beirut: The Last Home Movie	Jennifer Fox	1988	Circle Releasing Corp.
Distant Harmony	DeWitt Sage	1988	Circle Releasing Corp.
36 Fillette	Catherine Breillat	1988	Circle Releasing Corp.
A Winter Tan	Jackie Burroughs, John Frizzel, Louise Clark and John Walker	1988	Circle Releasing Corp.
The Navigator	Vincent Ward	1989	Circle Releasing Corp.
The Beer Drinker's Guide to Fitness and Filmmaking	Fred G. Sullivan	1989	Circle Releasing Corp.
Tales from the Gimli Hospital	Guy Maddin	1989	Circle Releasing Corp.
The Killer	John Woo	1989	Circle Releasing Corp.
The Interrogation	Ryszard Bugajski	1989	Circle Releasing Corp.
Bye Bye Blues	Anne Wheeler	1990	Circle Releasing Corp.
Diamond Skulls	Nicholas Broomfield	1990	Circle Releasing Corp.

Production

Barenholtz's involvement in film production began with Wynn Chamberlain's Brand X starring Abbie Hoffman in 1974, before he left The Elgin. A few years later in 1978 he produced George Romero's Martin. The bulk of Barenholtz's production began in ‘1984, when he formed Circle Releasing with Ted and Jim Pedas.

Circle Films

In 1984, after leaving Almi Barenholtz joined with Ted and Jim Pedas to form Circle Releasing. Among the films released by Circle were Yoshimitsu Morita's The Family Game, Guy Maddin's first feature, Tales from the Gimli Hospital, Vincent Ward's The Navigator, John Woo's The Killer, Catherine Breillat's 36 Fillette, DeWitt Sage's first feature, Pavarotti in China, Alain Cavalier's Thérèse, and Blood Simple, the first film by Joel and Ethan Coen.

With Blood Simple, Barenholtz and the Pedas brothers formed a relationship with the Coens, and began producing their next films, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, and Raising Arizona. Barton Fink won the Palme d'Or at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, as well as awards for Best Director and Best Actor. This was the first and last time the three top honors have all gone to the same film at Cannes.

Barenholtz Production Inc.

Created in 1983, the company began producing films after Barenholtz left Circle Releasing, including George Romero's Bruiser, J Todd Anderson's The Naked Man, and Adek Drabiński's Cheat, which was Philip Seymour Hoffman's first appearance in film. He executive produced Gregory Hines' directorial debut, Bleeding Hearts, and Ulu Grosbard's Georgia, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Mare Winningham. He served as co-executive producer of Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, which earned Ellen Burstyn an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 2000.

Films as a producer

Film	Director	Year
Raising Arizona	Joel Coen	1987
Millers Crossing	Joel Coen	1990
Barton Fink	Joel Coen	1991
Georgia	Ulu Grosbard	1995
The Naked Man	J. Todd Anderson	1998
Bruiser	George A. Romero	2000
Requiem for a Dream	Darren Aronofsky	2000
Distress	Blue Kraning	2003
Music Inn	Ben Barenholtz	2006
Wakaliwood: the Documentary	Ben Barenholtz	2013
Family Games	Suzuya Bobo	2015

External links

• Ben Barenholtz at IMDb