First Run Features

1979–Present
Location

New York City, New York, United States of America

Description

First Run Features was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers to advance the distribution of independent film. Under the leadership of the late Fran Spielman, First Run Features quickly gained a reputation for its controversial catalog of daring documentaries and fiction films. Seymour Wishman continued her legacy over the next 38 years. Today First Run remains one of the largest independent distributors in North America, releasing 10 films a year in theaters nationwide and an additional 20 films annually to educational institutions, on home video, to television broadcasters, and online through a diverse mix of digital platforms. The First Run legacy includes films by such notable directors as Spike Lee, Michael Apted, Peter Jackson, Alex Gibney, Joe Berlinger, Allan Miller, Rose Troche, Josh Aronson, Sven Nykvist, Jane Campion, Ross McElwee, Michael Winterbottom, DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, Barbara Kopple, Dariush Mehrjui, David O. Russell, Lizzie Borden, Michael Verhoeven, Claude Chabrol, Jan Svankmajer, Claire Denis, Benoit Jacquot, Marleen Gorris, Radley Metzger, Deborah Shaffer, Manfred Kirchheimer, The Brothers Quay, George Sluizer, Monika Treut and Satyajit Ray. Over the years, First Run Features has survived everything from FBI surveillance to the demise of so many of its competitors. First Run proudly celebrated its 30th Anniversary in August 2009 with a retrospective at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. In 2001 we were honored with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

“First Run Features,” First Run Features, accessed March 25, 2024, http://firstrunfeatures.com/about.html.
Works in catalogue
  • A Southeast Asian person sits in a metal cage outside of the Democracy Monument in the city center of Bangkok, Thailand. Their hair is in a short bob with a fringe and they wear an off the shoulder dress decorated with a large necklace and earrings.

    I'm Fine

    film/video, 2008

    In Democracy Square (countries that have difficulty with democracy have a square for it) someone is sitting in a cage. He's doing fine. Of course it's a political protest - what else would it be? - but just like the person in the cage, the maker also acts as if everything is just fine. Everything is going well. Thailand is doing well.

  • A default icon for a node which has no primary image

    Duilian

    film/video, 2016

    In the film installation, Duilian, Wu Tsang (USA) recreates the untold love story of the famous 19th-century Chinese poet, feminist and revolutionary Qiu Jin (秋瑾) and the female calligrapher and publisher Wu Zhiying (吳芝瑛). A revered figure in China for her martyrdom in the anti-Manchu revolution, Qiu also defied gender norms, refusing to bind her feet and dressing as a man. Set aboard a ship in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, Duilian moves between Qing Dynasty China and present-day Hong Kong. In this cinematic work, martial arts action sequences are interwoven with tender scenes of Qiu Jin and Madame Wu. Played by Wu Tsang and her real-life partner and collaborator, boychild, they converse with one another using translations of Qiu Jin’s poems. Based in New York and Berlin, Tsang developed the film’s script through a series of collective ‘mistranslation’ sessions with members of Hong Kong’s queer communities, allowing for multiple readings, imaginings and desires to emerge. Rewriting the dominant narrative of Qiu Jin’s life into a story of love and loss, Duilian interrogates the role that language plays in shaping history and the assumptions and omissions that reside within. Funding provided by the United States Government.