He Launched The Careers Of David Lynch, The Coen Brothers, And John Sayles – And Now (At Last) He’s Directed A Movie Himself

“He was sometimes a producer, more often a distributor and exhibitor. He decided to buy Mr. Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977) after seeing only half of it and made it a cult hit. Before that, he invented the phenomenon of the midnight movie, with El Topo (1970), selling out the Elgin for six months, followed by Pink Flamingos … Now, at 82, [Ben] Barenholtz has directed his first dramatic film. ‘I’ll never be Kubrick,’ he said, smiling. ‘But I wasn’t afraid either.'”