Zeitgeist Captures the Films of Our Times

As part of the month-long retrospective “Zeitgeist: the Films of Our Times,” celebrating NY distributor Zeitgeist Films’ 20th anniversary, critically acclaimed moviemaker Atom Egoyan recently introduced a screening of his 1993 film Calendar, which was distributed by Zeitgeist, on Saturday July 12th at The Museum of Modern Art. Following the film, Egoyan conducted an interview with Zeitgeist founders Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo.

Egoyan is one of many moviemakers who have come out to show their support for Zeitgeist. The series, presented June 26 through July 23 at The Museum of Modern Art, opened with Guy Maddin introducing his 1992 film Careful, and the series has also included appearances by such renowned independent moviemakers as Todd Haynes, Bruce Weber and Yvonne Rainer.

Russo and Gerstman co-founded Zeitgeist in 1988 in a small, Greenwich Village office on a budget of $2,000. Today, the co-presidents run the company out of a SoHo loft with eight employees and enough awards and accolades to make larger distributors jealous. While over the years the company has grown in stature, Zeitgeist’s mission to distribute independent, thought-provoking and adventurous world cinema has never changed.

“Over the past 20 years our industry has undergone enormous change, and many companies involved in distribution have come and gone, but Zeitgeist has remained, and thrived,” notes Gerstman and Russo. “We are film lovers first and get the same thrill as we did our first day when we see an exciting new film, or a distinctive voice we can introduce to U.S. audiences.”

For more information, visit http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=8731.