DISTRIBUTOR RICHARD LORBER 
RECIPIENT OF THE TAFFF IMPACT AWARD 2024.
Distributor Richard Lorber will be the first recipient of the IMPACT AWARD at the AMERICAN FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL on Saturday November 2. This prize, created by the Franco-American Cultural Fund in 2024, celebrates an American professional for his action in favor of French Cinema and/or French series in the US.
Richard Lorber is the Chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber Media Group, LLC, which includes Kino Lorber (www.kinolorber.com) – the 45-year-old leader in art house distribution for award-winning international, documentary, indie, and classic cinema – and the streaming services MHz Choice, specializing in international series, and Kino Film Collection, featuring new Kino Lorber releases fresh from theaters, along with hundreds of films from its expansive library of more than 4,000 titles, many now streaming for the first time.
An industry pioneer with over 40 years experience, Mr. Lorber was the co-founder and head of Fox Lorber for 20 years. He later served for six years as President of Koch Lorber Films, which became part of Entertainment One.
He acquired Kino International in 2009 to form Kino Lorber. In 2022 Kino Lorber acquired the subscription streaming platform MHz Choice and a year later its competitor service Topic to become the dominant company offering the best in international television programming via digital distribution in North America.
Before his business career, Richard Lorber earned bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Columbia University and spent a decade teaching art history including as an Assistant Professor, New York University, while also writing art criticism for Artforum as well as other arts and film journals.
The French government honored his cultural contributions by awarding him the “Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.” He served for nine years as Chairman of the Board of Film Forum, America’s preeminent non-profit art house cinema. He is a member of the Producers’ Guild of America and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science.
Richard Lorber lives in New York City with his wife of 40 years, Dovie F. Wingard, a retired entertainment attorney and former NBC network executive. Their daughter Lola recently delighted them with the birth of a son, making them first time grandparents. In his rare spare time Richard Lorber is also a painter of abstract compositions he describes as “cubo-futurist” and over a long period has created a large body of work he plans to exhibit next year.
About KINO LORBER
With a library of over 4,000 film titles, Kino Lorber has been a leader in independent art house distribution for 45 years, releasing over 35 new and repertory films per year theatrically, inclusive of over ten Academy Award® nominated and winning films in fifteen years; most recently the Company distributed last year’s Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature, FOUR DAUGHTERS, which also won France’s equivalent, the Cesar award. With a New York-based staff of 65, Kino Lorber also acquires and releases annually over 350 film titles on all major digital VOD platforms and in physical video formats 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD. This year it launched its own subscription VOD service, the Kino Film Collection, in partnership with Amazon, and other major direct to consumer digital platforms. Starting with more than 400 new releases and classics from its own distinguished library it adds many new titles every month. In line with its own commitment to highly curated quality cinema, Kino Lorber also provides ancillary media distribution services for an expanding family of other art house labels, including Zeitgeist Films, Milestone Films, Cohen Media Group, Raro Video and Greenwich Entertainment. Since 2022, the company has further expanded its digital activities with the launch of its North American television streaming division through the acquisitions of SVOD platforms MHz Choice and Topic. The company now offers direct to subscribers via MHz Choice hundreds of TV series it has under license many with multiple seasons, amounting to over 7,000 hours of high quality episodic programming sourced from all over the world. These shows include iconic series such as Babylon Berlin, A French Village, The Killing, The Bridge, Inspector Montalbano and many others.
Among the French films and series released by Kino Lorber, several have premiered at THE AMERICAN FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL. They reflect the strong relationship between the company and the festival, built over the years and the eclecticism of the films released by the distributor, a similar strategy to the program of the festival. The list includes MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON (2010), THE WELL-DIGGER’S DAUGHTER (2012), THE BUREAU (2015~2020), AS I OPEN MY EYES & FATIMA (2016), SLACK BAY (2017), PROUD & CUSTODY (2018), OLGA & FRANCE (2021), THE SUPER 8 YEARS, THE WORST ONES & FINAL CUT (2022), ON THE ADAMANT & LA SYNDICALISTE (2023) and, this year BEING MARIA & THE EMPIRE.