Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
“All for film” reads the slogan for Fandor, a streaming service dedicated to movie buffs, festival goers, and independent cinema junkies. The interface is a tad intimidating — even as someone who studied film and now makes their living writing about movies — but draws you in nonetheless with cleverly versed synopses, timeless stills, and unique editorial features, the latter being a trait that is all but absent across the digital sphere’s streaming giants.
Since the rapid growth of streaming and video on-demand services began roughly ten years ago, platforms have slowly but surely made as effort to ensure their services are increasingly film buff-friendly after the community’s colloquial complaint that some of the medium’s greatest works have been lost and forgotten in the shift to digital. Hulu Plus caters to followers of Criterion, and Netflix’s “Classic” subgenre isn’t necessarily anything to sneeze at, but Fandor (which also includes Criterion in their line-up) goes beyond Intro to Film 101. In fact, for $7.50 a month, you could put yourself through film school so-to-speak, and then some.
What makes Fandor different from your go-to streaming service are their Spotlights, Keyframes (their editorial subdivision), and Staff Picks features that go beyond your everyday suggestion or subgenre label. For example, something that caught my attention under the Spotlights section was a feature called “Beyond Bechdel,” a group of curated titles that not only met the famous feminist film criteria but surpassed it to deeply analyze relationships between women, changing the way female relationships are depicted on-screen.
But it’s not all so specific. Festival followers looking for a broader range of movies to explore can check out their Festivals section, which groups together films that have premiered around the world from SxSW and Sundance to Cannes and Venice and about a dozen more. Lovers of the craft of filmmaking can peak at their Filmmakers section that features various emerging directors and screenwriters. And those looking to browse around a slightly vague genre can venture through their Movie Lists section, which offers categories such as “Film Noir,” “French Language Gems,” and “Adorable Animation.” Of course, you can add any title you want on Fandor to your queue.
Get to know the service and take a look at some of the titles they have coming to the platform later this month and in April:
52 Tuesdays (2013) *Available 3.27
Far from Vietnam (1967) *Available 4.10
I, Dalio (2015) *Available 4.24
Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013) *Available 4.03
Solitary Confinement (2012) *Available 4.03
Stop Making Sense (1984) *Available 4.17
Criterion Collection titles available through April 5th:
The American Soldier (1970)
Assassin (1964)
Branded to Kill (1976)
A Colt is My Passport (1967)
Death Shadows (1986)
L’assassin habit au 21 (1942)
Man Bites Dog (1992)
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
Stay tuned for more Fandor titles in our weekly VOD roundup.
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Photos: Fandor
