First Run/Icarus Films is proud to present a retrospective of films marking the 25th Anniversary of Icarus Films. In 1987, First Run/Icarus Films was created when Icarus Films merged their nontheatrical division with that of First Run Features. Celebrating a rich history of independent and engaged documentary films, the Retrospective presents over 75 different titles.

Founded in 1978, Icarus Films was dedicated to bringing to American audiences films about peoples and concepts too often unseen and unheard: films from the Middle East; films about people with unpopular ideas, films about controversial actions of the U.S. government. In the 1980s the company was a leading distributor of films about (and against) the U.S. interventions in Central America (which led to the creation of a hefty FBI file on the company). Over the years the collection has grown considerably, and now includes a wide range of films with varying creative approaches and themes. Today, First Run / Icarus Films releases approximately 50 films a year and distributes over 850 films from all over the world to universities, colleges, arthouses, museums, film festivals and community organizations across North America.

This Retrospective, in one sense, began on June 4th with Anthology Film Archive's season of Chris Marker films, which included three First Run / Icarus Films titles: A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT, THE LAST BOLSHEVIK, and ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF ANDREI ARSENEVICH. First Run / Icarus Films is proud to distribute five films by Chris Marker.

Beginning on Thursday, June 26th, the Retrospective commences in earnest, launching with the U.S. theatrical premiere of Anand Patwardhan's latest film, WAR AND PEACE, an epic chronicle of peace activism in the face of growing militarism and nuclear proliferation in India and Pakistan. Icarus Films and First Run/Icarus Films have distributed all of Anand Patwardhan's films since 1979; this first week will present the first complete survey of the work of India's leading documentary filmmaker. His films are supplemented by several remarkable Asian documentaries, including Mira Nair's first film JAMA MASJID STREET JOURNAL and the Academy Award-nominated SUNRISE OVER TIANANMEN SQUARE.

The week beginning on Thursday, July 3rd will be devoted to the U.S. theatrical premiere of Peter Watkins' monumental LA COMMUNE (PARIS, 1871), an epic work picked by J. Hoberman of the Village Voice as the Best Film of 2002.

Week three focuses on Latin American and Middle Eastern concerns, two areas that have remained bedrocks of the company's commitment to independent documentary since the inception of Icarus Films. On Friday, July 11 and Saturday July 12, we will present three programs of films by renowned New York based filmmaker Ilan Ziv, whose most recent film HUMAN WEAPON (also released by First Run / Icarus Films) opens at Film Forum on Wednesday, June 25th. The founder of Icarus Films, Ziv, who left the company in 1980 to return to filmmaking, will present several of his films in person, including his remarkable TANGO OF SLAVES and ON THE EDGE OF PEACE. Another powerful, albeit humor-filled, film featured this week will be HOW I LEARNED TO OVERCOME MY FEAR AND LOVE ARIK SHARON, an inquiry into the mercurial personality of the former general and current Israeli Prime Minister.

The fourth week includes a remarkable series of documentaries produced for French television - CINEMA, OF OUR TIME - portraits of, and interviews with, some of the most important directors of the last 50 years. Our selections include pieces on John Cassavetes, Eric Rohmer, Chantal Akerman, Aki Kaurismäki, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and the French New Wave.

Finally, the last week of the Retrospective features the U.S. theatrical premieres of two films, Chris Marker's A BIENTOT, J'ESPERE (1968), about an unusual strike in a textile factory, and Travis Wilkerson's acclaimed glimpse into a volatile moment in American labor history, AN INJURY TO ONE (2002), as a potent double-bill of films.

The impressive array of films being screened not only provides a representative sampling of contemporary documentary work, and of Icarus Films' and First Run/Icarus Films' development and work over the past quarter century, it also gives voice to a host of under-represented and provocative topics and subjects and ideas, many of which would not be heard elsewhere.

For a complete schedule with film synopses, visit Anthology Film Archives or call the Anthology Box Office: 212.505.5181

Anthology Film Archives is located at 32 Second Ave. at Second Street in New York City. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, & AFA members.