| Art house films are motion pictures which are not intended by
their producers to appeal to a mass audience, but rather seek a niche among specialty theatres which are usually in large urban
areas. These films are often produced on a small budget and do not have the promotional support of more mainstream films.
Art films, foreign films and documentaries are usually "art house films" but from time to time films such as
Life Is Beautiful (1998) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) break into wide release. Many major studios have
specialty divisions dedicated to these films such as the Fox Searchlight division of Twentieth Century Fox and the Sony Pictures Classics division of Columbia Pictures. Miramax began as a promoter of these
pictures but more recently has made more commercial pictures.
|