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Alamo Drafthouse to Give Limited Runs to Undistributed Festival Films
The chain will exhibit select independent titles that premiered at festivals but lack distribution deals. The first film scheduled is a documentary about the band Butthole Surfers.
Los Angeles TimesAudio version
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Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will launch a program to screen independent films that received festival screenings but did not obtain distribution agreements. The Alamo Exclusives initiative, announced Wednesday, will provide limited theatrical runs to titles from events including Sundance, the Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Festival, South by Southwest, and the chain's own Fantastic Fest.
The company will not purchase the films.
Instead, it will arrange exhibition agreements directly with the filmmakers. The first title scheduled is the documentary "Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt," which premiered at South by Southwest last year. Screenings will begin later this summer at Alamo Drafthouse locations.
The effort follows reduced interest from traditional distributors in specialty films after the pandemic and the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes. A company executive said audiences have repeatedly supported original independent films when given the opportunity. The director of Fantastic Fest stated that many films premiere at festivals without receiving a theatrical release.
