Milestone Films: A 35th Anniversary Celebration in 35mm

Monday, August 4 - Monday, August 25, 2025

Founded in 1990 by industry veterans and devoted cinephiles Amy Heller and Dennis Doros, Milestone Films has always been a labor of love. The couple’s passion for discovering both new voices and unsung classics drove them to distribute work from all over the world, spanning the entire history of moving pictures, with a special focus on highlighting work by women and filmmakers of color. Their commitment to saving masterworks from obscurity or, even worse, loss had profound effects on film culture, expanding the canon of American and international moviemaking by championing work from major, overlooked artists like Charles Burnett and Shirley Clarke, while also bringing rarities from the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Powell to the public’s attention.

Earlier this year, Heller and Doros announced that they were retiring, but would pass the torch to curator and scholar Maya S. Cade, founder of the Black Film Archive, to continue the company’s mission.
On the occasion of Milestone’s 35th anniversary and the beginning of a new era for the company, IFC Center is proud to present four key titles from the company’s library, all screening on 35mm and all introduced by Heller, Doros or Cade.

The program represents key areas of Milestone’s activities in over the last three and a half decades, from new discoveries to major restorations. Included are MABOROSI (1995), the debut feature from Hirokazu Kore-eda; THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (1937), a long-unavailable early feature by Michael Powell; George Nierenberg’s acclaimed gospel celebration SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY (1982), with the filmmaker appearing in person for a post-screening Q&A; and PORTRAIT OF JASON, the seminal LGBT documentary by Shirley Clarke, whose restoration Milestone oversaw.

Many thanks to the Milestone team for their vital work in expanding our understanding of film history. We can’t wait for their next chapter.

Series Films

Current and Upcoming Films