Ben Barenholtz

Ben Barenholtz (born October 5, 1935) is a film exhibitor, distributor and producer who has been a key presence in the independent film scene since the late 1960s, when he opened The Elgin Cinema in New York City in 1968.

He is known for his innovations distributing and screening films and for discovering first time directors such as The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, John Sayles and Guy Maddin, and for the first American presentation of Cousin Cousine, and John Woo's The Killer.

Barenholtz appeared in the documentary The Hicks of Hollywood, had a bit role in Liquid Sky, and appeared as a zombie in Romero's 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 Greenberg's feature film Stags. In 2012, he produced Suzuya Bobo's 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.

He has directed his first fiction film, Alina, starring Darya Ekamasova, which will release in Fall 2017. He is developing the sequel to Alina as well as working on an autobiographical film, Aaron.

Ben Barenholtz was born Ber Barenholtz on October 5, 1935 in Kupichev, Ukraine to Aaron and Paula Barenholtz, the youngest in a family of four. He has one older brother, Rubin. The Barenholtz family spent the war years living in the Ukrainian forest. In 1947 Ben and his mother immigrated to The United States. After four years of schooling, Ben decided it was not for him, and began working. In 1957 Barenholtz joined the army, in 1958 serving in Germany. He came back to New York in 1959, and landed his first job in film as the assistant manager of the RKO Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York.

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