Foreign and indie film fans rejoice. Netflix announced today online streaming agreements with several distributors.
Netflix said it has penned licensing agreements to instantly stream award-winning and critically acclaimed films from distributors including The Criterion Collection, Gravitas Ventures, Kino Lorber, Music Box Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Regent Releasing.
In all, about 300 new indie titles can now be watched instantly or will become available early next year. In some cases, Netflix has struck deals to stream all new releases from particular distributors as they become available.
Among the choices that are now or will soon become available to watch instantly are "Departures" (Regent Releasing/Here Films), Yojiro Takita's 2009 Academy Award winner for best foreign language film; "Wendy and Lucy" (Oscilloscope), the poignant 2008 tale of a woman and her dog on the edge starring Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams; "A Nos Amours" and "Au Revoir Les Enfants" (Criterion), two classics of French independent cinema; "Good Dick" (Gravitas), a modern fairy tale from 2008 written by, directed and starring Scottish-born Marianna Palka; "As It Is in Heaven" (Kino Lorber), the 2004 Swedish hit and foreign language Oscar nominee about a famous conductor and the church choir he inspires; and "Seraphine" (Music Box), the 2009 biopic about the brilliant, self-taught French painter Seraphine Louis.
Matthew Fortner has been at The News & Observer since 2002. He has a passion for gadgets, cutting-edge technology and all things geek.