EXCLUSIVE: HanWay Films has expanded its classics library after being appointed to represent The Cohen Film Collection.
The library of Cohen Media Group’s founder, Charles S. Cohen, comprises more than one hundred restored classic titles spanning from the silent era to the present day, including The Buster Keaton Collection and The Merchant Ivory Collection.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed and Cohen Media Group is the owner of HanWay, having acquired the company in 2022.
Late last year Charles Cohen’s media group hit choppy waters when the company was forced to sell multiple assets including British arthouse exhibitor and distributor Curzon to Fortress Investment Group. The company was acquired in a foreclosure auction involving multiple Cohen assets, including the Landmark cinema chain. Fortress had lent Cohen $534M but sued him last year for default. Cohen acquired Curzon in late 2019 amid a buying spree by the U.S. real estate developer.
The Cohen collection of silent era movies was assembled by Raymond Rohauer, who started acquiring movies through his partnerships with Buster Keaton and Douglas Fairbanks in the 1950’s. Included in the collection are the Keaton classics Our Hospitality, One Week and Three Ages; as well as the Fairbanks led masterpieces The Three Musketeers, and The Iron Mask and Robin Hood.
Marta Ravani, Director of Sales for HanWay – The Collections will continue to manage The Collections sales.
Charles S. Cohen, owner and chairman of Cohen Media Group said: “We’re thrilled to have HanWay handling our classic film collections which have been largely restored, and to have our films sold in the company of so many other great classic titles.”
Peter Watson, president of HanWay, added: “Our library business sits at the very heart of HanWay. HanWay – The Collections, run by Marta Ravani, is devoted to the idea that great cinema, beautifully presented and carefully handled, will always have an audience. Charles shares our long view and has lavished considerable resources to maintain the lustre of what must be one of the great little libraries of cinema. We are delighted to represent these treasures.”
HanWay’s most recent 4K restorations include Crash by David Cronenberg, Let’s Get Lost by Bruce Weber, Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor and The Dreamers, Shine by Scott Hicks, Orlando by Sally Potter, Rabbit Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce, Nil By Mouth by Gary Oldman and most recently in partnership with The Wim Wenders Foundation, cult classic Paris, Texas.
The Cohen Film Collection included as part of the HanWay Films acquisition will include:
The Cohen Film Collection – Restorations of such classics as Daughters of the Dust, Cast A Shadow, Hangmen Also Die, Sudden Fear and Pandora & The Flying Dutchman as well as beautiful 4K restorations of The Old Dark House, Hester Street and King of Hearts, among others.
The Buster Keaton Collection – The General, Sherlock. Jr., Steamboat Bill Jr., Seven Chances and The Navigator
The Merchant Ivory Collection: Howard’s End, Maurice, Heat and Dust, The Europeans, Quartet, The Bostonians
The Documentary Collection: Hitchcock/Truffaut by Kent Jones; Faces/Places by Agnes Varda, What is Cinema by Chuck Workman, Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles Chuck Workman
HanWay – The Collections includes all of the films that HanWay has sold since 1999, including Todd Haynes’ Carol (2015), Steve McQueen’s Shame (2011), John Crowley’s Brooklyn (2015), Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), and Anton Corbijn’s Control (2007). In addition, are the films of HanWay owner Jeremy Thomas, including Bernardo Bertolucci’s magnum opus and multi-Academy Award winning epic The Last Emperor (1987), as well as acclaimed documentaries, Wim Wenders movies, Sally Potter films, a New Zealand collection, the films of Paul Cox and Amos Gitai and Bruce Webber.
