Janus Films is an American

film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...

company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenw ...

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

and many other well-regarded directors. Ingmar Bergman's ''

The Seventh Seal ''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...

'' (1957) was the film responsible for the company's initial growth. Janus has a close business relationship with

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

regarding the release of its films on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and is still an active theatrical distributor. The company's name and

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

come from

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

, the two-faced

Roman god Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...

of transitions, passages, beginnings, and endings.

History

Janus Films was founded in 1956 by

Bryant Haliday Bryant Haliday (April 7, 1928July 28, 1996) was an American actor, as well as producer, of film and stage, who was instrumental in providing a showcase for international film titles in the United States by co-founding Janus Films with his partne ...

and

Cyrus Harvey, Jr. Cyrus Isadore Harvey Jr. (October 14, 1925 – April 14, 2011) was an American film distributor and business entrepreneur, he was the co-founder of Janus Films in 1956, and part-owner of the Brattle Theatre with his longtime business partner film ...

, in the historic

Brattle Theater The Brattle Theatre is a repertory movie theater located in Brattle Hall at 40 Brattle Street near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theatre is a small movie house with one screen. It is one of the few remaining movie theaters, if ...

, a

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...

landmark in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. Prior to the conception of Janus, Haliday and Harvey began screening both foreign and American films at the Brattle Theater and proceeded to regularly fill the 300-seat venue. Having purchased the theater, Haliday, together with Harvey, converted the Brattle into a popular movie house for the showing of

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

s. Perceiving potential success in the film business, Haliday and Harvey moved into the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

market and began running the

55th Street Playhouse The 55th Street Playhouse—periodically referred to as the 55th Street Cinema and Europa Theatre—was a 253-seat movie house at 154 West 55th Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened on May 20, 1927. Many classic art and foreign ...

. Janus Films was subsequently launched in March 1956 and the Playhouse was used as the primary location for exhibiting Janus-distributed films. The two owners eventually sold Janus Films in 1965 following a decline in the American art film market, and in 1966 Haliday also sold the Brattle, whilst Harvey continued to manage the theater into the 1970s. In 1977, the

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

acquired rights to the company's film collection, which became the foundation for Kino's international library of films. Janus was later acquired by Saul J. Turell and William J. Becker. Their sons, Jonathan B. Turell and Peter Becker, who also own The Criterion Collection, are still involved in the business, with Turell serving as company director in 2006.

Recent releases

On October 24, 2006, in celebration of 50 years of business, the Criterion Collection released 50 of the films that Janus distributed in a large boxset containing 50 DVDs and a 200-page essay on the history of

art house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

films. The package was called ''Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films''.

A.O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...

chose the set as his DVD pick when he co-hosted ''

At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper ''At the Movies'' (originally ''Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'', and later ''At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper'') is an American movie review television program produced by Disney–ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics share the ...

''. As part of its 44th Festival in 2006, the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...

presented a series called ''50 Years of Janus Films'', a tribute to the company. In 2009, Janus Films released '' Revanche'', its first first-run theatrical release in 30 years. Then, in 2010, Janus acquired domestic theatrical and home video rights to the

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

library under license from the Chaplin estate and worldwide distribution agent MK2. The Criterion division handles the Chaplin library for re-issue on DVD and Blu-ray, in addition to theatrical release. Janus also currently manages part of the Caidin Film Company library for Westchester Films, and the Faces Distribution/

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...

library for Jumer Productions, both companies' successors-in-interest to

Castle Hill Productions Castle Hill Productions was an independent television and film distribution company handling classic and independent films whose library spans eight decades. History Founded in 1978 by Julian Schlossberg, Castle Hill Productions revived and re ...

References

External links

* – official site
Janus Films
''The Face of Art and Foreign Film'' at

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

{{Authority control Film distributors of the United States Entertainment companies based in New York City Companies based in New York City Mass media companies established in 1956 1956 establishments in Massachusetts Privately held companies based in New York (state) The Criterion Collection