Ben Barenholtz

Ben Barenholtz October 5 1935 June 27 2019 was a Polishborn 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 Woos 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 Millers 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 Romeros 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 Greenbergs feature film Stags In 2012 he produced Suzuya Bobos 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 CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia