Many Indie Festival Films Struggle To Get Distribution. Alamo Drafthouse Is Trying To Change That.

Dine-in movie theatre concatenation Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is launching a caller inaugural to show unreleased independent films that had successful show runs, a move that comes arsenic specialty films person struggled to summation distribution.

The Alamo Exclusives program, announced Wednesday, will springiness constricted theatrical runs to films that showed astatine festivals including Sundance, nan Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Festival and South by Southwest festival, arsenic good arsenic Alamo’s ain Fantastic Fest.

The thought is to thief showcase films that received captious acclaim, but did not unafraid distribution aliases acquisition deals. The concatenation will not get these films, but alternatively will participate into agreements pinch filmmakers to grounds their films connected Alamo Drafthouse screens. By showing these films to audiences connected nan large screen, these films could get nan momentum they request for further opportunities.

The program’s first movie will beryllium nan documentary “Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt,” which debuted past twelvemonth astatine South by Southwest and chronicles nan history of nan punk stone band.

The movie will beryllium shown successful Alamo Drafthouse theaters for a constricted clip later this summer.

The Austin-based chain, which is owned by Sony Pictures, has a agelong history of curating indie films for its audiences, giving Alamo Drafthouse assurance that its viewers want to spot these kinds of movies, institution main executive Michael Kustermann said successful a statement.

“Time and again, they’ve shown they’ll travel retired to support bold, original films erstwhile fixed nan opportunity,” he said. The caller Alamo Exclusives “gives america different measurement to champion filmmaker-driven films that merit to beryllium discovered and link them pinch nan wider Alamo Drafthouse audience.”

The inaugural comes astatine a difficult clip for indie films. Since nan pandemic upended nan movie business, accepted studios and distributors person had little appetite for risk, including betting connected smaller indie films retired of festivals.

And arsenic nan 2023 dual writers’ and actors’ strikes thinned retired theatrical lineups, that aversion to uncertainty became a push for reliable and profitable hits.

“Too galore unthinkable films premiere astatine festivals and past ne'er person nan theatrical life they deserve,” Lisa Dreyer, head of Fantastic Fest and movie invention astatine Alamo, said successful a statement. “We are actively searching for films crossed each genres, from scary to comedy, to everything in-between, to champion successful this new, breathtaking way.”