> > Having trouble viewing this email? Click here > > Donald Krim (1945 - 2011) > > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > > New York, NY - May 20, 2011 - Donald B. Krim (b. October 5, 1945), the > President of Kino International and co-President of Kino Lorber Inc., one of > the most prestigious independent film distribution companies in the United > States, died at his New York home on May 20, 2011, after a one-year battle > with cancer. He was 65. > > A funeral service is planned for Monday, May 23 (11:45AM) at Riverside > Memorial Chapel, located on 180 West 76th Street. The service is open to the > public. A memorial service is planned for late June. > > As the President of Kino International, Don helped introduce some of the > world's most revered film directors to American audiences; among many others, > Wong Kar-Wai (Happy Together; Fallen Angels); Michael Haneke (The Piano > Teacher); Amos Gitai (Kippur; Kadosh); Aki Kaurismäki (The Match Factory > Girl; Ariel); Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust); and Andrei Zvyagintsev (The > Return). > > In 2000, Krim received the Mel Novikoff Award from the San Francisco Film > Festival, for his work to "enhance the filmgoing public's knowledge and > appreciation of world cinema;" and in 2006, he was the recipient of the > prestigious William K. Everson Award for Film History, given by the National > Board of Review. On that same year, the Anthology Film Archives bestowed Mr. > Krim with a Film Preservation Honors Award. In 2009, he received "The > Visionary Award" at the 24th Annual Israel Film Festival. > > Donald Krim, a Newton Mass. native, is the second of three sons of retired > distinguished Raytheon engineer and executive Norman Krim and Beatrice Baron > (deceased). He has been married to Susan Benjamin, a native of South Africa, > since 1979. > > Susan currently serves as the Admissions Associate and CSE Coordinator at the > Mary McDowell Friends School, one of New York City's leading schools for > students with learning disabilities. Together, they raised their children, > Miriam and Simon, in New York City. Miriam currently lives in London and > Simon attends college in New York. His brothers are Arthur J. Krim and Robert > Krim of Boston, Massachusetts. > > Donald Krim's parents, Norman and Beatrice, met in Cambridge and raised their > sons in Newton, a suburb of Boston. Don attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols > School in Cambridge and was active in the high school drama club, producing > several plays. > > The story of the summer day when Don first fell for the magic of the movies > is a treasured family memory. The film was the 1950 Disney animated feature > Cinderella. Arthur Krim had taken his little brother to the one o'clock show > at the Surf Theater on Boston's North Shore. That evening Arthur came home, > alone, to a surprised Norman and Beatrice. Back at the theater, Don, then a > five-year-old, was well into the third viewing of Cinderella, smitten for > life. Future favorites were to include Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and > all the grand Technicolor films. > > In New York City, Donald Krim received his Bachelor's degree in American > History from Columbia University in 1967 and obtained his law degree, also > from Columbia, in 1971. After law school, Krim began his career at United > Artists, first becoming head of the 16mm nontheatrical film rental division, > then working on the formation of United Artists Classics, the first major > studio-owned, art house division - and the model for today's Fox Searchlight > and Sony Pictures Classics. > > Eventually, UA Classics also began to handle distribution rights to the MGM > library, including films like The Wizard of Oz, and pre-1948 Warner Brothers > titles, including Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood. The company > started distributing new foreign films shortly after. > > While Krim was at United Artists, his colleague Bill Pence was working at > Janus Films, a company that held the rights to classic films like Fritz > Lang's M, Fellini's La Strada, Kurosawa's Rashomon and Beauty and the Beast. > While working for Janus Films, Pence founded Kino International, and in 1977, > Krim purchased the one-year-old company and immediately started to expand. > > "Within a few months of taking over Kino, we made a deal to handle the > Chaplin films, like Modern Times and The Great Dictator. [Our rights were > for] theatrical. We weren't getting home video, which was just in its > beginning, and television. Then we took on the Selznick films, including > [Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and Notorious," says Mr. Krim. "The next year we > took over the Alexander Korda library, including Thief of Bagdad." (DVDTalk; > July 29, 2002) > > The next step for the still-young company was to start releasing new films. > > "Around 1979, we started being offered new foreign films," Krim recalled. "I > took a flyer for a Japanese film from a director named Masahiro Shinoda... My > wife [Susan Krim] liked it and we decided to do that... The film was > [renamed] The Battle of Orin. We opened it at the predecessor to the Lincoln > Plaza, which was the Cinema Studio theater. It got some decent reviews, but > didn't do any business. But it was a nice film and we weren't discouraged. > Also, around that time I started going to the Berlin Film Festival looking > for new films and we began acquiring one or two films a year." (DVDTalk; July > 29, 2002) > > In 1987, Kino International opened its own Home Entertainment section, called > Kino on Video, which became one of the most active and respected independent > labels in the field, eventually winning three consecutive "Heritage" awards > from the National Society of Film Critics. Entertainment Weekly named Kino's > The Art of Buster Keaton box set the best home video release of 1995. And > releases such as The Movies Begin, a collection of early films, Edison: The > Invention of the Movies, The Krzysztof Kieslowski Collection, The Wong > Kar-Wai Collection, and the 14 films from The American Film Theatre > Collection, among many others, were also celebrated by critics. > > Throughout the years, Kino International released some of the most > influential films from around the world, including Shôhei Imamura's Vengeance > is Mine and The Ballad of Narayama; Percy Adlon's Sugarbaby; André Techiné's > Scene of the Crime; Michel Khleifi's Wedding in Galilee; Volker Schlöndorff's > The Legend of Rita; Amos Gitai's Alila and Kedma; Wong Kar-Wai's, Days of > Being Wild; Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy; Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani's Ajami; > and Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth. > > In addition, Donald Krim was personally responsible for all aspects of two > nationwide re-releases of two different restorations of Fritz Lang's > Metropolis - one in 2002, marking the film's 75th anniversary, and the other > in 2010, triggered by a major archival discovery. Other classic reissues made > viable by Kino International include Alexander Korda's The Thief of Bagdad, > the first reissue of Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, Von Stroheim's > Queen Kelly, Wages of Fear, the 50th anniversary restoration of The Bicycle > Thief, and recent high-def restorations of Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship > Potemkin and Douglas Fairbank's The Black Pirate. > > In the last four years, Kino International titles have earned three Academy > Award nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The nominated > titles are: Beaufort (2007), Ajami (2009) and Dogtooth (2010). In December of > 2009, Kino International merged with Lorber Films, and formed Kino Lorber Inc. > > In place of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the Fresh > Air Fund, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, and Red Hook Rise. Donations to Red > Hook Rise should be sent to 481 Van Brunt St. 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11231. > > > Click here to download a picture of Donald Krim in High-Res. > > Professional Recognition: > 2000 > Mel Novikoff Award for " enhancing the filmgoing public's knowledge and > appreciation of world cinema" - Awarded by the San Francisco Film Festival > > 2006 > William K. Everson Award for Film History - Awarded by the National Board of > Review (NBR) > > Film Preservation Honors Award: Anthology Film Archive > > 2009 > The 24th Annual Israel Film Festival- The Visionary Award for being a > critical force in showcasing Israeli cinema in the US. > > Golden Globe Nominations: > The Return - Best Foreign Language Film, 2004 > > Academy Award Nominations: > Dogtooth- Nominated, Best Foreign Language Film 2010 > Ajami - Nominated, Best Foreign Language Film 2009 > Beaufort - Nominated, Best Foreign Language Film, 2007 > > One of Mr. Krim's favorite quotes about his company was printed on the pages > of The New York Times (August 6, 2006): > > "Movies without Kino International would be like parks without trees, museums > without paintings ... Founded in 1977 and as relevant as ever, this > irreplaceable distribution company keeps one eye on the past, maintaining a > rich catalog of cinematic touchstones, and one on the future, acquiring and > releasing the classics of tomorrow." > - Nathan Lee, The New York Times > > Contact Information > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Rodrigo Brandão / Director of Publicity > Kino Lorber Inc. > 333 West 39th Street > Suite 503 > New York, NY 10018 > phone: (212) 629.6880 ext.12 > cell: (917) 434.6168 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Forward email > > This email was sent to rodr...@kino.com by rodr...@kinolorber.com | > Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | > Privacy Policy. > Kino International | 333 W 39 Street | Suite 503 | New York | NY | 10018 > > THIS IS A TEST EMAIL ONLY. > This email was sent by the author for the sole purpose of testing a draft > message. 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