Film Forum director Karen Cooper revels in New York’s art house market as she prepares to retire after 50 years – The Deadline Q&A

Karen Cooper, longtime director of Film Forum, the gem of indie films in New York, says her exit comes at a good time, not only for her, but for the company. Despite all the naysayers, and after struggling through Covid with the help of federal grants and a slow recovery, Cooper said things are pretty brisk right now at the nonprofit cinema in lower Manhattan that she’s been running for the past 50 years of driving.

She will leave her post this summer and deputy director Sonya Chung will take over on July 1.

The Film Forum was founded in 1970 on the Upper West Side with an annual budget of $19,000 to show independent American films not released in commercial theaters. Cooper took it through three expansions and grew it into a $6 million enterprise with a slew of shows and premieres from around the world. It has been at its current location on West Houston Street since 1989. She considers the New York premieres of hundreds of indie narrative films, documentaries and animated films over the decades – many by first-time directors – to be her greatest achievement. Filmmakers she supports range from New German Film to Terence Davies, Mira Nair and Agnès Varda to Wong Kar-wai and Chloé Zhao.

Cooper will continue to advise on fundraising and programming. In February it will be shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. In the meantime, she answered some of Deadline’s questions about the organization that was her life’s work – she started straight out of university – and the state of the independent film market.

MEETING: There is so much doom about the future of art house films. How are you?

Cooper: We are in a pretty solid financial position. Losses during Covid were great, but we received federal aid and support from individuals and foundations that helped us.

I know it may sound a bit naive, but how can you still be naive after half a century? – but I am [thrilled] about what we have on the screen. E.O, it works great. By a Polish filmmaker [Jerzy Skolomowski] from a donkey’s point of view. A documentary about Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb [Turn Every Page]. We play three short films from the late 1960s/early 1970s documenting James Baldwin in Paris [Meeting The Man: James Baldwin In Paris]London [Baldwin’s N****r] and Istanbul [James Baldwin: From Another Place]. I put it together and called it James Baldwin Abroad. None of these are easy films and they attract viewers at a time when people are still thinking about Covid. Just like that, No bears, by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who is currently in prison. And Bruce Goldstein [Repertory Artistic Director] has given us a new release by Bernardo Bertolucci The Conformists. And it is a brilliant film. Each of these films does remarkable things.

However, I could not have given you this answer a month ago.

MEETING: Has anything changed?

Cooper: It is fleeting. December is always hard, with Christmas and the holidays it’s hard to get people out of the house. And streaming really planted them on their couches. Covid has taken a heavy toll. These are big, big financial realities. People have become very accustomed to staying at home and streaming. But it was picked up. And we see a mix of old and young people in the audience, especially in the repertoire. In fact, many young people come to the documentaries about James Baldwin. He is an iconic figure. As for racial awareness, I don’t think you can’t know his name.

MEETING: Would you say that the New York art house market is unique? Especially now that LA has lost some key theaters.

Cooper: LA, funny thing I’ve always heard is that it’s a tough city to go to the movies. Maybe because you have to drive everywhere. New York has a large, diverse, cosmopolitan audience. Films that do less well elsewhere find their way to New York audiences. We have a great audience.

MEETING: Why the decision to retire now after five decades?

Cooper: Honestly, I’m a good planner. You have to be a good planner to work with indie films. A lot of what we do is about planning, more so than commercial theaters that grab something as soon as it comes off the spit. I’ve actually been thinking about this for 20 years. Since the early 2000s when [Sonya Chung] worked at Film Forum as head of development. [Chung left after five years to write and teach.]

Then she came back in 2018 to visit film festivals abroad and make recommendations. [She was named Deputy Director in 2020.]

It took many years. I wanted to recruit someone who was incredibly capable and understood the Film Forum culture.