Zeitgeist Films: The Little Studio That Could

Trade publication descriptions of Zeitgeist Films, the excellent New York-based movie distributor that is the subject of an ongoing 20th anniversary retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art titled "Zeitgeist: The Films of Our Time," usually incorporate the word "niche." But the company, which is owned and operated by co-presidents Emily Russo and Nancy Gerstman, who founded Zeitgeist together in 1988, has shown real genius in repositioning that niche in a way that has advantageously introduced fresh filmmaking visions to new audiences.

It was Zeitgeist that first brought the director Todd Haynes to movie theaters via his 1991 debut feature "Poison." Mr. Haynes has since established himself as a premier American filmmaker, helming, among others, 1995's "Safe," 2002's "Far From Heaven," and 2007's "I'm Not There." The company also shepherded Canadian director Guy Maddin to his current critical supremacy and loyal ticket-buying following, brought Jacques Demy's glorious and latterly influential 1964 "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" back from pre-restoration limbo, and has championed work by the Brothers Quay, Abbas Kiarostami, and Caroline Link, whose "Nowhere in Africa" claimed the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

During the course of two tumultuous decades in independent film distribution, the company's track record demonstrates a remarkably astute sensitivity to the ebb and flow of public and critical tastes, both in the art house and the video store. "That is what 'zeitgeist' means, isn't it?" Ms. Russo said last week. "It's the spirit of the times, and that is what we do. We have certainly been attracted to films that have political messages or philosophical messages or some kind of social messages" — "And emotional messages," Ms. Gerstman interjected — "that we thought audiences of that time would want to respond to."

Zeitgeist's catalog includes Mr. Haynes's film-genre rondo "Poison," as well as his rarely screened erotic valentine to the American sitcom of the 1950s, the short film "Dottie Gets Spanked," both of which will be introduced by the director Friday night at MoMA. As in Mr. Haynes's early works, an affectionately modernist approach to film itself can be found in Mr. Maddin's Zeitgeist output (particularly the astonishing 2000 short film "The Heart of the World," also slated for a rare unspooling at the museum), the Quay Brothers' alternately airless and baroque hypnotic animated anachronisms, Olivier Assayas's backward-glancing evocation of French silent-film director Louis Feuillade, "Irma Vep," and Jacques Demy's social-realist take on the Hollywood musical, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg."

Is that modernist spirit a part of the Zeitgeist curatorial agenda?

"We're proud of you for finding a strain," Ms. Gerstman laughed. "Most people say that it's so eclectic that they can't really think of what a Zeitgeist film is. I think there are a number of strains of interest in our catalogue and you've identified one. It would really be hard for us to describe exactly what attracts us to a film. "

Zeitgeist's success is also a vindication of Ms. Russo and Ms. Gerstein's staunchly defended autonomy. "One of the nice things about having our own company and it being the two of us making the decisions is that we can decide what we want to do just because we want to do it," Ms. Russo said. Those choices have allowed emerging filmmakers to find a sympathetic audience loyal enough to anchor their careers. Messrs. Haynes and Maddin (whose "My Winnipeg" is currently playing at IFC Center) are, of course, now the art-film equivalent of household names. Others could easily follow their lead. Nuri Bilge Ceylon, whose 2006 film "Climates" was distributed by Zeitgeist, won the directing award at Cannes this year for his new film "Three Monkeys"

"He deserved it for 'Climates,' too," Ms. Gerstman said.

What brought these filmmakers to Zeitgeist and then to the world is, according to Ms. Gerstman, "talent that was so evident from their first film. We've always looked for new voices and amazing talent that hasn't necessarily had significant exposure in the U.S. I don't think that's really changed very much."

By most accounts, what is changing is the way in which movies are exhibited and distributed. As costs continue to rise in every aspect of traditional distribution and exhibition, a certain hysteria has developed in regard to prognostication about the most advantageous distance to put between a theatrical run and a home-video release, the rise of the Internet, and the advancing of delivery technology and digital viewing formats. Nevertheless Ms. Russo said that she and Ms. Gerstman remain sanguine about the "endless conversation about downloads, streaming, and Internet" going on in film distribution these days, perhaps because their small and independent company can stay light on its feet as industry upheaval rocks the rest of Hollywood. "We try to stay positive," Ms. Russo said. "Maybe things will change, but we'll change along with them."

The bottom line for future of Zeitgeist Films, Ms. Russo continued, is the same one to which the company has successfully adhered for 20 years. "People are still going to go to the movies," she said, "Nancy and I both feel pretty strongly that people are not going to stop seeing films. If they're seeing them in other ways and in new ways, that's okay. There's still going to be a collective experience of going to see films and we still want to be very much part of that."

Though their impressive back catalog of movies has grown substantially during the company's existence, and Ms. Russo acknowledges that she and her business partner are "testing our toes a bit in the waters of some online things," Zeitgeist's major asset remains its founders' pragmatic enthusiasm for the work they champion.

"We never had a business plan when we started to company 20 years ago," Ms. Russo said. "We didn't know then what we'd be doing now. We just wanted to be in this business doing it and enjoying it and finding these wonderful films and filmmakers to work with and have a company that's honest and fair and has a good reputation. I think that we'll see where that takes us in the new world of distribution."

Through July 23 (11 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-708-9400).