Letterboxd Sets Deal with Neon to Release the Studio’s Six Oscar Contenders to Members

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read

Distributor Neon is partnering with Letterboxd, the fast-growing global social network for movie discussion and discovery, to give the platform’s users access to the studio’s slate of documentary and foreign films shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards. From March 8 through March 14, Letterboxd users can stream all of Neon’s six shortlisted titles for the discounted bundle price of $19.99 over at watch.neonrated.com. This news marks the first time Letterboxd will be offering new films that have not streamed on any other platforms directly to its member base.

The six films included in the bundle will be documentary contender “Gunda” directed by Victor Kossakovsky and executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix; Gianfranco Rosi’s “Notturno,” which is Italy’s submission for the Best International Feature Academy Award; “The Painter and the Thief,” directed by Benjamin Ree and shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar; Andrei Konchalovsky’s Best International Feature submission from Russia, “Dear Comrades!; “Night of the Kings,” Philippe Lacôte’s Ivory Coast Oscar Submission; and Jasmila Žbanić’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” the Bosnia and Herzegovina submission.

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According to a statement from Letterboxd executive David Larkin: “Partnering with Neon to offer this selection of six sensational films is an exciting opportunity for our community to be part of the awards-season conversation.”

The partnership should also drive new members to the site (which was recently featured in The New York Times). Launched in 2011, Letterboxd is a global community made up of more than three million film lovers in more than 200 countries. Users rate, review, and share their movie-watching activities. Last year, the Letterboxd community logged 210 million films watched, wrote 16 million reviews, and created almost two million lists.

Neon was recently in the news out of the Berlin Film Festival for its acquisition of Céline Sciamma’s acclaimed world premiere “Petite Maman.” Distribution on that film will reunite Neon with Sciamma after their successful collaboration on “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” from 2019. Other upcoming projects at Neon include Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana during a pivotal moment in her life; Ben Wheatley’s return to gory horror with “In the Earth,” which recently world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; as well as a narrative remake of the Norwegian documentary “The Painter and the Thief.”

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