First Run Features: About Us

First Run Features The Film Center Building 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213 New York, NY 10036 Phone: (212) 243-0600 Fax: (212) 989-7649 For all general inquiries, or to request a catalog, please contact us at info@firstrunfeatures.com Acquisitions inquiries: We do not accept unsolicited screeners, but we are open to hearing about your film if it has received press from a film festival or been reviewed in an industry publication. If this is the case, please send us an email with a brief description of your film. Due to the number of inquiries we receive, we will respond only if we are interested in requesting a screener. Stay informed about new DVD releases and hear about monthly contests and special screening events by signing up for our email newsletter.


	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 independent film pioneer, Fran Spielman, First Run Features quickly gained a reputation for its controversial catalog of daring independent fiction and non-fiction films. First Run remains one of the largest independent theatrical and home video distributors in the United States, releasing 12 to 15 films a year in theatres nationwide and 40 to 50 videos and DVDs annually. First Run has also formed a non-theatrical division that sells directly to the educational market. The First Run legacy includes films by such notable directors as: Spike Lee, Michael Apted, Rose Troche, Sven Nykvist, Jane Campion, Ross McElwee, Michael Winterbottom, Maria Luisa Bemberg, Barbara Kopple, Peter Jackson, Daniel Bergman, Dariush Mehrjui, David O. Russell, Lizzie Borden, Claude Chabrol, Jan Svankmajer, Claire Denis, Benoit Jacquot, Marleen Gorris, Radley Metzger, Deborah Shaffer, Victor Nunez, The Brothers Quay, George Sluizer, Monika Treut, and Satyajit Ray. First Run Features is proud to say that in the Spring of 2001 our diverse collection of award winning independent, foreign, fiction, non-fiction and children's films was honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. “A pioneering, New York-based film company whose activities over the past 22 years have enriched independent filmmaking and distribution . . . First Run Features remains an important distributor of American independent films, significant foreign films, social-political documentaries, and films of all genres that appeal to increasingly visible minorities.” - Museum of Modern Art - Read more “Not to pat ourselves on the back (okay, we are), but indieWIRE has been highlighting the under-appreciated films of the American independent and foreign sectors since 1998. . . While times have significantly changed in the last six years, many of the same players, such as First Run Features, are steadfastly playing the indie game and continuing to pick up our unsung favorites.”- indieWIRE - Read more “First Run Features has been one of the handful of reliable indies - real indies - whose distribution of quality films both theatrically and on home video/DVD has helped counterbalance the voluminous junk we get from the studios. They're important when it comes to shedding light on the duskier corners of the world, where good films by smaller or neglected industries have little chance of exposure save it be for the angels at First Run Features." - IGN DigiGods - Read more “If you’re a little jaded by mainstream cinema and those predictable blockbusters, get yourself acquainted with First Run Features, a New York-based film distribution company that makes available a large and diverse collection of unusual and engaging material.”- New York Spirit “Thank goodness for companies like First Run Features . . . they are dedicated to making sure the personal film, political film and the alternative film survive and are available to an interested public. It’s an ambitious pursuit, but a much needed one, especially for those who enjoy the adventure of forward thinking cinema.”- AMPED MAGAZINE