Researchers in film studies can now easily access the essential titles they need for insight into world cinema from the 1990s to today thanks to an alliance between Alexander Street, a ProQuest company, and Sony Pictures Classics. More than 300 classic films are available for streaming at colleges and universities throughout the U.S., including documentaries and award-winning films from filmmakers like Wim Wenders, Ang Lee, Jeff Nichols, Mike Leigh, Asghar Farhadi, Roman Polanski, Michael Haneke, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Errol Morris, Ingmar Bergman, Pedro Almodovar, and others.

“We are honored to be entrusted as the online digital distributor in the US academic market for this collection,’” said Will Whalen, Director of Licensing, Alexander Street, “and to be able to provide students and researchers with greater access to some of the most influential and important titles in the last 25 years of international cinema.”

“Film can have a profound impact on the way we see and experience the world,” Whalen added, “and that is certainly true of the titles in this collection. In this way, the Sony Pictures Classics files are a critical foundation for film studies, and they also have immense value for scholarship in a variety of other programs such as cultural studies, literature, language, and politics.” 

Since 1993, Sony Pictures Classics has received over 100 Academy Award® nominations and has won 33 Oscar® awards, including five Best Documentary winners and 13 Best Foreign Language Films. This collection encompasses the most intriguing, innovative, and influential films of the last 25 years, including:

• Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Michael Haneke’s Cache, The White Ribbon, and Amour
• Errol Morris’ The Fog of War and Standard Operating Procedure
• Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter
• Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and The Past
• Mike Leigh’s Another Year and Mr. Turner
• Roman Polanski’s Carnage
• Robert Kenner’s Merchants of Doubt
• Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York
• Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash
• Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis

Three licensing options are available so libraries can choose collections that balance the needs of their researchers with their budgets: the Sony Pictures Classics Premium Collection includes the top 40 titles; Sony Pictures Classics Essential Collection is comprised of the top 100 titles; and Sony Pictures Classics Complete Collection spans all 300 available titles.

Learn more and sign up for a free trial at https://alexanderstreet.com/products/sony-pictures-classics-collection.