Film Forum
Encyclopedia
Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater
located at 209 West Houston Street in New York City
. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a US$19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership, Film Forum has grown exponentially. Its current Greenwich Village
cinema (on Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue) was built in 1990. Film Forum is a 3-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with 280,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, 4500 members and an operating budget of US$4.4 million. Film Forum is the only autonomous nonprofit cinema in New York City and one of the few in the United States of America.
Film Forum presents two distinct, complementary film programs - NYC theatrical premieres of American independents and foreign art films, programmed by Cooper and Mike Maggiore; and, since 1987, repertory selections including foreign and American classics, genre works, festivals and directors' retrospectives, programmed by Bruce Goldstein
. Their third screen is dedicated to extended runs of popular selections from both programs, as well as new films for longer engagements.
As a cinema of ideas, Film Forum is committed to presenting an international array of films that treat diverse social, political, historical and cultural realities. Unlike commercial cinemas that primarily book high-grossing, Hollywood films, Film Forum's programs are thoughtfully curated, with attention to unique cinematic qualities, historical importance individually or within a genre and, particularly for documentaries, relevance to today's world.
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
located at 209 West Houston Street in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a US$19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership, Film Forum has grown exponentially. Its current Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
cinema (on Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue) was built in 1990. Film Forum is a 3-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with 280,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, 4500 members and an operating budget of US$4.4 million. Film Forum is the only autonomous nonprofit cinema in New York City and one of the few in the United States of America.
Film Forum presents two distinct, complementary film programs - NYC theatrical premieres of American independents and foreign art films, programmed by Cooper and Mike Maggiore; and, since 1987, repertory selections including foreign and American classics, genre works, festivals and directors' retrospectives, programmed by Bruce Goldstein
Bruce Goldstein
Bruce Goldstein is a New York Repertory film programmer, producer, archivist, and historian.Goldstein became the director of repertory programming for New York's Film Forum in 1986. At Film Forum he presented series on Film noir, silent comedy, classic 3-D, Pre-Code movies, science fiction and...
. Their third screen is dedicated to extended runs of popular selections from both programs, as well as new films for longer engagements.
As a cinema of ideas, Film Forum is committed to presenting an international array of films that treat diverse social, political, historical and cultural realities. Unlike commercial cinemas that primarily book high-grossing, Hollywood films, Film Forum's programs are thoughtfully curated, with attention to unique cinematic qualities, historical importance individually or within a genre and, particularly for documentaries, relevance to today's world.