The Cohen Film Collection is a

film archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

currently held by Cohen Media Group. Containing several hundreds of rare and classic movies spanning from the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

era to the present day, it was previously referred to as the Rohauer Library prior to Cohen Media Group's ownership in 2011.

History

The American film programmer

Raymond Rohauer Raymond Rohauer (1924, Buffalo, New York – November 10, 1987) was an American film collector and distributor. Early life and career Rohauer moved to California in 1942 and was educated at Los Angeles City College. Rohauer made a five-reel ...

had acquired several films of the actor Buster Keaton in the 1950s through forming a partnership with the actor; during Rohauer's career, he acquired several films through several ways; he formed similar partnerships, such as with

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), ''Gunga Din'' (1939) ...

for films produced by

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...

, according to preservationist Tim Lanza, bought story rights of films based on novels, and distribution rights thereafter, as well as making contracts. Several instances of Rohauer's acquisitions would become the basis of his collection, which is usually referred to as the Rohauer Library. Rohauer, through his collection, reissued and released the films for theatrical distribution. The rights to the films were occasionally challenged by means of litigations, alleging that the acquired films were not licensed, only to end with settlements. After Rohauer died in 1987, the Rohauer library was briefly owned by distributor Alan Twyman, before the film company The Douris Corporation acquired it in 1995. The library was estimated to have 700 feature and short films in the catalogue at the time of the acquisition. During the Douris Corporation's ownership, films from the Rohauer Library were distributed by

Kino Kino may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters * KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S. * Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station * KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel Fictional entitie ...

for home videos. In 2008, The Douris Corporation went into receivership and sought licensing deals and liquidation of the library. By 2011, The Douris Corporation sold the library to real estate developer

Charles S. Cohen Charles S. Cohen (born February 8, 1952) is an American real estate developer and film distributor. Early life and education Cohen was raised in a Jewish family in Harrison, New York. He is the son of Gloria and Sherman Cohen and nephew to Edd ...

, who incorporated the acquired assets into his film distribution company Cohen Media Group. Initially distributed by

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

, The Rohauer Library has since been renamed the Cohen Film Collection and continues to add various films from filmmakers, such as

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues a ...

, and

Patrice Chéreau Patrice Chéreau (; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer. In France he is best known for his work for the theatre, internationally for his films '' La Reine Margot'' and ...

, to its catalogue.Official Cohen Film Collection website
/ref> In October 2020, the Cohen Media Group renewed a deal with Kino (now known as Kino Lorber) to distribute their titles for home video and digital releases, which includes the Cohen Film Collection.

Organization

The Cohen Film Collection is based in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. It is part of the

Cohen Media Group Charles S. Cohen (born February 8, 1952) is an American real estate developer and film distributor. Early life and education Cohen was raised in a Jewish family in Harrison, New York. He is the son of Gloria and Sherman Cohen and nephew to Eddi ...

, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

.Cohen Film Collection.net: Contacts
/ref>

Preservation

After Cohen Media Group's acquisition in 2011,

and preservationist Tim Lanza invested in restoring the films for theatrical, home and digital releases.

References

External links

Cohen Film Collection website
Film archives in the United States Film preservation organizations Organizations based in Columbus, Ohio Organizations established in 2011 2011 establishments in the United States {{film-org-stub

History

Organization

Preservation

See also

References

External links