About Us

Kino International was founded in 1977 as a theatrical distribution company specializing in classics and foreign language art films. The company began operation with a license to handle theatrical distribution of the Janus Collection, a library containing over 100 important European and Asian art films of the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Building on this foundation, Kino acquired many classic feature films and packages for distribution to the then-vital repertory theatre circuit, which consisted of over two hundred active venues across the United States in the pre-cable, pre-video era. During its first ten years, Kino handled exclusive theatrical distribution for the Charlie Chaplin films (including Modern Times and City Lights), the David O. Selznick collection (including Spellbound, Rebecca and Notorious), the Alexander Korda Films library (including Things To Come and The Thief Of Bagdad), the Walter Wanger Collection (including Stagecoach and To Be Or Not To Be), as well as the successful reissues of widescreen epics El Cid and Giant.

While continuing to distribute classic films in their original 35mm format, Kino took a new turn in 1980 with the acquisition and release of Masahiro Shinoda’s beautiful Japanese chamber piece The Ballad Of Orin, followed soon after by the release of Shohie Imamura’s 1984 Palme d’Or winner The Ballad of Narayama. Since then, the company has focused on the distribution (in all media) of high-quality contemporary world cinema, American independents, and documentaries -- usually by up-and-coming directors. Additionally, we have had great success with several 35mm classic reissues -- most notably, 2002's high-grossing re-release of Metropolis.

Among the many contemporary films and filmmakers Kino has introduced to North American film audiences since 1980 are:

• Suzana Amaral’s Hour Of The Star
• Shohei Imamura’s Vengeance Is Mine, The Ballad Of Narayama and Dr. Akagi
• Aki Kaurismäki’s Ariel, The Match Factory Girl and La Vie De Bohème
  
• Andre Techiné’s Scene Of The Crime
• Julie Dash’s Daughters Of The Dust
  
• Victor Gaviria’s Rodrigo D
• Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s Himatsuri
• Michel Khleifi’s Wedding In Galilee
  
• Wong Kar-Wai’s Fallen Angels and Happy Together
• Cheick Oumar Sissoko’s Guimba and Genesis 
• Amos Gitaï’s Kadosh, Kippur, Alila, Kedma and One Day You’ll Understand
  
• Percy Adlon’s Sugarbaby
• Chen Kaige’s Life On A String
  
• Bertrand Tavernier’s L.627 and Capitaine Conan
• Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels’ Visions Of Light
• Joseph Cedar’s Time of Favor and Beaufort
• Takashi Mike’s Dead or Alive 1, 2 and 3
• Eric Vali’s Himalaya
• Volker Schlondorff’s The Legend of Rita, The Ninth Day
• Karen Yedaya’s Or
  
• Andrei Zvyagintsev’s The Return
• Im Kwon Taek’s Chihwaeson
• Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy
• So Yong Kim’s In Between Days
• David Vorlach’s My Father My Lord
• Pascale Ferran’s Lady Chatterley  
• Reha Erdem’s Times and Winds
• Azazel Jacobs’ Momma’s Man
• Kevin Rafferty’s Harvard Beats Yale 29-29

Unable to find existing video distributors interested in purchasing small art films, Kino established its own home entertainment label, Kino On Video, in 1987. Our first release, Mark Whitney's Matter of Heart (a tapestry-like documentary on C.J. Jung), was an immediate success, and continues to sell strongly on DVD today. Now relabeled Kino International, our home entertainment division is able to disseminate contemporary world cinema to communities and institutions which might not otherwise have access to those films, as well as provide new life to classic films which were not previously available outside of a few big cities.

Kino has also contributed significantly to the resurrection and distribution of films from the silent era, which are often prohibitively expensive to restore on film, but can be economically and beautifully preserved with new video and digital technologies. Starting with 1989's ten-title VHS series "They Had Faces Then" (which included Erich Von Stroheim's Queen Kelly, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari and The Phantom Of The Opera), we have released over 130 silent films on VHS and/or DVD -- filling a void in the market by providing quality restorations of films from the silent period to the home and institutional collector.

Among the highlights of Kino's silent catalogue are the five-part series "The Movies Begin" (released in 1994), consisting of 122 films made between 1894 and 1914; the ten-part series "The Art Of Buster Keaton," released in 1995 and the winner of Entertainment Weekly’s "Best Video of the Year" award; the four disc Edison box set, produced in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress; a three disc set of early Gaumont films made in France between 1897 and 1913; and thirty German silent classics, including the most important works of F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang.

Kino now boasts a catalog of over five hundred films -- one of the most important libraries of classic and contemporary world cinema titles available to the home video collector -- and has been honored by numerous critical accolades, including the prestigious Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics for its work in film preservation in 2002 and 2003. In its coverage of a 2006 retrospective of Kino's back catalog, The New York Times wrote:

“Movies without Kino International would be like parks without trees or museums without paintings. Founded in 1977 and as relevant as ever, this irreplaceable distribution company keeps one eye on the past, maintaining a rich catalogue of cinema touchstones, and one on the future, acquiring and releasing the classics of tomorrow.”