The Brattle shows the best in classic, cutting-edge, foreign, and art-house films. We also show first-run films and new releases of classic films, but our specialty is a repertory programming format consisting of films from a particular director, genre, or subject shown over the course of a week, or on the same weekday throughout the month. Visit our Series Archive to learn more about past repertory programs.
Movies have been shown at the Brattle Theatre since 1953, when Bryant Haliday and Cyrus Harvey Jr. started things off with a screening of the German film, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (The Captain from Köpenick). Haliday and Harvey later founded Janus Films for the purpose of distributing foreign films nationwide. Learn more about Janus Films and the Brattle Theatre on the Timeline page, or read this essay about the first 100 years of the Brattle.
The non-profit Brattle Film Foundation has operated the Brattle Theatre since 2001. Learn more about the Brattle Film Foundation's non-profit and fundraising activities here.
©The Brattle Film Foundation. All rights reserved worldwide. The Brattle Film Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit, supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
