Orion Classics was the division of Orion Pictures

Orion Pictures

Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...

, headed by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, and Marcie Bloom, that acquired independent

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 and foreign

World cinema

World cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industries of non-English speaking countries. It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term foreign film...

 films for North American distribution, in addition to producing some arthouse films of its own. It was launched in 1983 when Barker, Bernard and Donna Gigliotti

Donna Gigliotti

Donna Gigliotti is an American film producer. She is best known for producing the academy award winning film Shakespeare in Love with David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick and Marc Norman . Gigliotti started her professional career as an assistant to Martin Scorsese on the film Raging Bull...

 moved from UA Classics

United Artists

United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

, a United Artists specialty division.

Among its most notable films were Babette's Feast

Babette's Feast

Babette's Feast is a 1987 Danish film directed by Gabriel Axel. The film's screenplay was written by Axel based on the story by Isak Dinesen , who also wrote the story which inspired the 1985 Academy Award winning film Out of Africa...

, Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...

's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas...

, Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch

James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...

's Mystery Train

Mystery Train

"Mystery Train" is a song written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. It was first recorded in Phillip's Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee in 1953. Raymond Hill plays tenor sax and Matt Murphy plays lead guitar with Bill Johnson on piano, Pat Hare on...

and Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater

-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...

's Slacker

Slacker (film)

Slacker is an American independent film written and directed by Richard Linklater, who also appears in the film. Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.-Plot summary:...

.

In late 1991, when Orion Pictures was in serious financial trouble, Barker, Bernard, and Bloom left Orion Classics, taking the rights to the highly anticipated Merchant Ivory Productions

Merchant Ivory Productions

Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Their films were for the most part produced by the former, directed by the latter, and scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, with the noted exception of a few films. The films were often...

 adaptation of Howards End

Howards End (film)

Howards End is a 1992 film based upon the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster , a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England...

with them; at the invite of former Orion president Mike Medavoy

Mike Medavoy

Morris Mike Medavoy is an American film producer and executive, co-founder of Orion Pictures , former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists and current chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures.-Early life and career:Medavoy was born in Shanghai, China in 1941 to...

, who was now relocated at TriStar Pictures

TriStar Pictures

TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...

, the three set up Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...

, with Howards End

Howards End (film)

Howards End is a 1992 film based upon the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster , a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England...

as the company's first release.

In the mid-1990s, Metromedia

Metromedia

Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...

 acquired Orion, and merged the classics division into the Samuel Goldwyn Company

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...

. Both Orion and SGC were sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 in 1997, with the latter's function of producing and/or distributing independent films being assumed by MGM's United Artists

United Artists

United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

 division.

Films

Title	Release Date
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose	1982
The Pool Hustlers The Pool Hustlers The Pool Hustlers is a 1982 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Maurizio Ponzi. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. It was co-written by Ponzi, male lead Francesco Nuti and established screenwriters Franco Ferrini and Enrico Oldoini...	1982
Beyond the Door Beyond the Door (1982 film) -Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Enrico Sommi* Eleonora Giorgi - Nina* Tom Berenger - Matthew Jackson* Michel Piccoli - Mr. Mutti* Paolo Bonetti* Maria Sofia Amendolea - Secretary* Enrico Bergier* Marcia Briscoe - Nina's Friend...	September 5, 1982
Pauline at the Beach	July 29, 1983
Carmen Carmen (1983 film) Carmen is a 1983 film adaptation of the novel Carmen by Prosper Mérimée, using music from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style by Carlos Saura...	October 20, 1983
Scrubbers Scrubbers Scrubbers is a 1983 British drama film directed by Mai Zetterling and starring Amanda York and Chrissie Cotterill. It was shot primarily in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. It was inspired by the success of the 1979 film Scum.-Plot:...	January 31, 1984
Sugar Cane Alley Sugar Cane Alley Sugar Cane Alley is a 1983 film directed by Euzhan Palcy. It is set in Martinique in the 1930s, where blacks working sugarcane fields were still treated harshly by the white ruling class...	April 6, 1984
Privates on Parade Privates on Parade (film) Privates on Parade is a 1982 film adaptation of the Peter Nichols play of the same title about a fictional - and mostly gay - military entertainment group, the "Song and Dance Unit, Southeast Asia" assembled to entertain the troops in the Malayan jungle in the years after World War II.-Cast and...	April 13, 1984
Another Country	June 29, 1984
Strangers Kiss Strangers Kiss Strangers Kiss is a 1983 drama directed by Matthew Chapman and starring Peter Coyote, Victoria Tennant, Dan Shor and Blaine Novak. The film about which this film portrays the making, is Killer's Kiss.-Plot:...	August 13, 1984
Old Enough Old Enough This article is about the film. For the single by Nickelback, see Old Enough .For the single by The Raconteurs, see Old Enough Old Enough is a 1984 teen-oriented movie...	August 24, 1984
Full Moon in Paris	September 7, 1984
Swann in Love Un amour de Swann (film) Un amour de Swann is a 1984 Franco-German film directed by Volker Schlöndorff. Its screenplay is largely inspired by the novel of the same name by Marcel Proust....	September 14, 1984
Where the Green Ants Dream Where the Green Ants Dream Where the Green Ants Dream is a 1984 film by German film director Werner Herzog. It was Herzog's first film in English although also dubbed into German. Based partly on the Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd case and making use of professional actors as well as Aboriginal activists who were involved in...	February 8, 1985
My New Partner My New Partner My New Partner is a 1984 French comedy film directed by Claude Zidi, starring Philippe Noiret and Thierry Lhermitte. Noiret plays a streetwise Paris policeman who takes kickbacks from the minor criminals on his beat to allow them to continue. At the start of the film, his partner is busted for...	March 8, 1985
MacArthur's Children MacArthur's Children is a popular and influential 1984 Japanese motion picture. Describing the impact of the United States' occupation of Japan from the perspective of the inhabitants of a small, rural island community, the film featured the big screen debut of actor Ken Watanabe....	May 17, 1985
Henry IV Henry IV (film) Henry IV is a 1984 Italian drama film directed by Marco Bellocchio. It is based on the Luigi Pirandello play of the same name. It was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Henry IV* Claudia Cardinale - Matilda...	June 28, 1985
Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart is a 1985 film directed by Wayne Wang.It is an American comedy film starring Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor Wong, Cora Miao, and Joan Chen.-Plot:...	August 9, 1985
Came a Hot Friday Came a Hot Friday Came a Hot Friday is a 1985 New Zealand made comedy film starring some of New Zealand's best-known actors and comedians, based on the 1964 novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson.-Plot:...	October 4, 1985
Colonel Redl	October 4, 1985
Ran Ran (film) is a 1985 Japanese-French jidaigeki film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film starred Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. It also stars Mieko Harada as the wife of Ichimonji's eldest son...	December 20, 1985
A.K.	January 29, 1986
My Beautiful Laundrette My Beautiful Laundrette My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The story is set in London during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as shown through the complex—and often comical—relationships...	March 7, 1986
A Great Wall	May 30, 1986
The Green Ray	August 29, 1986
Restless Natives Restless Natives Restless Natives is a 1985 comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Vincent Friell, Joe Mullaney, and Ned Beatty.Filmed in Scotland, the story follows the adventures of two young men who don masks and hold up tourist coaches in the Highlands...	September 12, 1986
The Sacrifice The Sacrifice The Sacrifice is a 1986 film, and the final film by Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky, who died shortly after completing it.-Synopsis:...	November 1986
El Amor brujo El Amor brujo (1986 film) El amor brujo or Carlos Saura Dance Trilogy, Part 3: El Amor Brujo is a 1986 Spanish musical film written and directed by Carlos Saura. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style. It is the third part of the Saura's flamenco trilogy he made in the 80's, after Bodas de sangre in 1981...	December 23, 1986
One Woman or Two One Woman or Two One Woman or Two also released as A Woman or Two, is a 1985 French comedy film. It was directed by Daniel Vigne, and stars Gérard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer....	February 20, 1987
Devil in the Flesh	May 22, 1987
Jean de Florette Jean de Florette Jean de Florette is a 1986 French historical drama film directed by Claude Berri, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol. It is part of a duology, and is followed by Manon des Sources. The film takes place in rural Provence, where two local farmers scheme to trick a newcomer out of his newly inherited...	June 26, 1987
Rita, Sue and Bob Too Rita, Sue and Bob Too Rita, Sue and Bob Too is a 1986 British film directed by Alan Clarke about two West Yorkshire teenaged schoolgirls who have a sexual fling with a married man. It was adapted by Andrea Dunbar, based on two of her stage plays; Rita Sue and Bob Too and The Arbor...	July 17, 1987
End of the Line	August 28, 1987
Dancing in Water	September 18, 1987
Manon of the Spring	November 5, 1987
Au Revoir Les Enfants	December 1987
A Month in the Country A Month in the Country (film) A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O'Connor. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide...	February 19, 1988
Babette's Feast Babette's Feast Babette's Feast is a 1987 Danish film directed by Gabriel Axel. The film's screenplay was written by Axel based on the story by Isak Dinesen , who also wrote the story which inspired the 1985 Academy Award winning film Out of Africa...	March 4, 1988
Wings of Desire Wings of Desire Wings of Desire is a 1987 Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants and comfort those who are in distress...	May 6, 1988
Loose Connections	July 8, 1988
Boyfriends and Girlfriends	July 15, 1988
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas...	November 11, 1988
Field of Honor	January 20, 1989
Murmur of the Heart Murmur of the Heart Murmur of the Heart is a 1971 French film by French director Louis Malle that tells a coming of age story about a 14-year-old boy growing up in bourgeois surroundings in post-World War II Dijon, France. The film proved to be a box office success across Europe, gaining 2,652,870 admissions in...	February 3, 1989
Chocolat Chocolat (1988 film) Chocolat is a 1988 film directed by Claire Denis, about a French family that lives in colonial Cameroon. Marc and Aimée Dalens are the parents of France , a young girl who befriends Protée , a Cameroon native who is the family's household servant...	March 10, 1989
The Reader The Reader (1988 film) The Reader is a 1988 film based on Raymond Jean's novel "La Lectrice".- Plot :Inspired by the story of Marie, a woman who advertises her services as a reader of literature, Constance decides to do the same....	April 21, 1989
The Music Teacher The Music Teacher The Music Teacher is a 1988 Belgian film directed and co-written by Gérard Corbiau. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.- Plot :...	July 7, 1989
Mystery Train Mystery Train (film) Mystery Train is a 1989 independent anthology film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and set in Memphis, Tennessee. The film comprises a triptych of stories involving foreign protagonists unfolding over the course of the same night...	November 7, 1989
Camille Claudel Camille Claudel (film) Camille Claudel is a 1988 French film about the life of the 19th century female sculptor Camille Claudel. The movie was based on the book by Reine-Marie Paris, granddaughter of Camille's brother, the poet and diplomat Paul Claudel. It was directed by Bruno Nuytten, co-produced by Isabelle Adjani,...	December 21, 1989
Too Beautiful for You	March 2, 1990
Monsieur Hire Monsieur Hire Monsieur Hire is a 1989 French film directed by Patrice Leconte and starring Michel Blanc in the title role and Sandrine Bonnaire as the object of his affection. The film received numerous accolades as well as a glowing review from popular American movie commentator Roger Ebert. The film is based...	April 20, 1990
Jesus of Montreal Jesus of Montreal -Plot and allegory:The film centers on a group of actors in Montreal, Canada who are gathered by Daniel, an actor hired by a Roman Catholic site of pilgrimage to present a Passion play in its gardens....	May 25, 1990
May Fools	June 22, 1990
Wait Until Spring, Bandini Wait Until Spring, Bandini Wait Until Spring, Bandini is a 1989 film written and directed by Dominique Deruddere, based upon the novel by John Fante. The film won three Joseph Plateau Awards.-Plot:...	June 29, 1990
Life and Nothing But Life and Nothing But -Synopsis:Set in October 1920, it tells the story of Major Dellaplane, a man whose job is to find the identities of unknown dead soldiers after World War I. Dellaplane forms a relationship with a woman who is looking for her missing husband, but a dilemma begins when he learns that her husband may...	September 14, 1990
Leningrad Cowboys Go America Leningrad Cowboys Go America Leningrad Cowboys Go America is a 1989 road movie by Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki about the adventures of a fictional Russian rock band that travels to the United States to become famous...	November 2, 1990
Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac (1990 film) Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1990 French-language film based on the 1897 play of the same name by Edmond Rostand. It was directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and adapted by Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean-Paul Rappeneau. The English subtitles use Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which preserves the...	December 1, 1990
Open Doors Open Doors (1990 film) Open Doors is an award-winning 1990 film directed by Gianni Amelio. Set in Palermo in the 1930s, a judge who is morally against the death penalty is confronted with the case of a man who has murdered his wife and two colleagues in cold blood...	March 8, 1991
Love Without Pity	May 31, 1991
My Father's Glory My Father's Glory (film) My Father's Glory is a 1990 French film directed by Yves Robert, based on the novel My Father's Glory by Marcel Pagnol...	June 14, 1991
Europa Europa Europa Europa Europa Europa is a 1990 German language film directed by Agnieszka Holland. Its original German title is Hitlerjunge Salomon, i.e. "Hitler Youth Salomon". It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German Jewish boy who escaped The Holocaust by masquerading not just as a non-Jew, but...	June 28, 1991
Slacker Slacker (film) Slacker is an American independent film written and directed by Richard Linklater, who also appears in the film. Slacker was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.-Plot summary:...	July 5, 1991
My Mother's Castle My Mother's Castle (film) My Mother's Castle is a 1990 French film directed by Yves Robert, based on the book of the same name by Marcel Pagnol...	July 26, 1991
Opera Opera (film) Opera is a 1987 Italian giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, and Ian Charleson. Cinematography is done by Ronnie Taylor while Brian Eno and Claudio Simonetti composed the film's score. The film was released in the United States...	September 6, 1991
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (film) The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is the filmed version of the one-woman stage show written by Jane Wagner and starring Lily Tomlin, which won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience...	September 27, 1991
Rhapsody in August Rhapsody in August is a 1991 Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa. The story centers on an elderly hibakusha, who lost her husband in the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, caring for her four grandchildren over the summer. She learns of a long-lost brother, Suzujiro, living in Hawaii who wants her to visit him before he dies...	December 20, 1991
Raise the Red Lantern Raise the Red Lantern Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong...	March 13, 1992
A Woman's Tale A Woman's Tale A Woman's Tale is a 1991 Australian film directed by Paul Cox. It stars Sheila Florance, Gosia Dobrowolska, Norman Kaye, Chris Haywood and Ernie Gray.Martha is an elderly woman living alone in her flat and dying of cancer...	May 1, 1992
The Adjuster The Adjuster The Adjuster is a 1991 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan. It premiered at the New York Film Festival.The Adjuster tells the story of an insurance adjuster who becomes intimate with his clients. The adjuster initially appears to want to help his clients but as the movie unfolds it is clear...	May 29, 1992
A Tale of Springtime	July 17, 1992
Rain Without Thunder Rain Without Thunder Rain Without Thunder is a 1992 movie directed by Gary Bennet and starring Betty Buckley and Jeff Daniels. The film is set fifty years in the future from the time of production. Although the Planned Parenthood v...	February 5, 1993
Boxing Helena Boxing Helena Boxing Helena is a 1993 romantic drama film and the debut feature film by Jennifer Chambers Lynch, daughter of David Lynch. The film stars Julian Sands and Sherilyn Fenn as the eponymous Helena.-Plot:...	September 3, 1993
Nostradamus Nostradamus (film) Nostradamus is a 1994 biographical film directed by Roger Christian.-Cast:*Tchéky Karyo ... Nostradamus*F. Murray Abraham ... Scalinger*Rutger Hauer ... The Mystic Monk*Amanda Plummer ... Catherine De Medici*Julia Ormond ... Marie...	September 16, 1994
Bar Girls Bar Girls Bar Girls is a lesbian-themed romantic comedy film written by Lauran Hoffman, adapted by Hoffman from her stage play of the same name for the screen in 1994. Starring Nancy Allison Wolfe, Liza D'Agostino, Camila Griggs and Michael Harris and directed by Marita Giovanni, the play and film follow the...	April 7, 1995
Jeffrey Jeffrey (film) Jeffrey is a 1995 American gay romantic comedy directed by Christopher Ashley. It is based on a play by Paul Rudnick, who also wrote the screenplay.Starring Steven Weber as Jeffrey and Michael T...	August 18, 1995
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey is a 1993 documentary film directed by Steven M. Martin about the life of Leon Theremin and his invention, the theremin, a pioneering electronic musical instrument....	August 24, 1995
Maybe, Maybe Not	July 12, 1996
Ed's Next Move Ed's Next Move Ed's Next Move is a 1996 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John C. Walsh. It stars Matt Ross and Callie Thorne. A micro-budget romantic comedy about a transplanted Midwesterner adapting to life in New York's East Village, the film appeared at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival...	September 27, 1996
Trees Lounge Trees Lounge Trees Lounge is the 1996 feature film debut written and directed by Steve Buscemi. It was produced by Brad Wyman and Chris Hanley and features a large ensemble cast of actors, including Buscemi, Anthony LaPaglia, Chloë Sevigny and Samuel L. Jackson...	October 11, 1996
Prisoner of the Mountains Prisoner of the Mountains Prisoner of the Mountains , also known as Prisoner of the Caucasus, is a 1996 Russian war drama film directed by Sergei Bodrov and written by Bodrov, Arif Aliyev and Boris Giller...	January 31, 1997
This World, Then the Fireworks	July 11, 1997
One Man's Hero One Man's Hero One Man's Hero is a 1999 film starring Tom Berenger and directed by Lance Hool. The film has the distinction of being the last one released by Orion Pictures....	September 24, 1999