Kino Film Collection Boards Los Angeles Festival of Movies as Presenting Sponsor | Exclusive

Kino Film Collection will join the Los Angeles Festival of Movies (LAFM) as a presenting sponsor for the fest’s 2026 edition. Kino will co-present the third annual festival alongside Mezzanine.

“We’re excited to have our Kino Film Collection subscription service as the lead sponsor of the festival,” said Lisa Schwartz, Chief Distribution and Revenue Officer for Kino Lorber. “LAFM’s sensibility and curatorial taste strongly align with the films that we have long championed, which makes this partnership a natural extension of our passion for independent cinema.”

Kino Film Collection is the curated streaming service of longtime distribution company Kino Lorber. This year, Kino Lorber has North American distribution rights for “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” a film nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. The streamer was also in the documentary race last year after picking up Oscar nominee “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.”

Micah Gottlieb and Sarah Winshall founded LAFM in 2024 as a go-to spot for new independent cinema, as well as panels and screenings of classics and restorations. LAFM held a number of high-profile West Coast premieres (several of which were Sundance films) in its first two years: Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow,” Andrew DeYoung’s “Friendship,” Charlie Shackleton’s “Zodiac Killer Project” and Grace Glowicki’s “Dead Lover,” to name a few. LAFM also held the world premiere Conner O’Malley and Danny Scharar’s “Rap World.”

“We are so thrilled to be working with Kino Film Collection, one of the great libraries of independent and international cinema in the world, who share our commitment to building a vital and accessible platform for arthouse cinema,” Gottlieb and Winshall said on Friday.

LAFM filled a void left behind by the LA Film Festival (LAFF) six years after it ceased in 2018. The current organizers also parted ways with presenting sponsor Mubi in September over the company’s financial ties to Sequoia Capital.

“With Mubi, we were able to work with a marketing team that understood our mission of bold curation, and supported us in cultivating dynamic spaces for cutting-edge arthouse and independent cinema,” LAFM said on Instagram. “We are now actively seeking sponsors and donors who share those values.”

The 2026 Los Angeles Festival of Movies will take place April 9-12, with passes going on sale Thursday, March 5. Films will be screened at Vidiots in Eagle Rock, 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown and Now Instant Image Hall in Chinatown, while conversations will be held at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz.

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