Company History

Fanlight Productions is a leading distributor of innovative film and video works on the social issues of our time, with a special focus on:
    •  healthcare
    •  mental health
    •  professional ethics
    •  aging and gerontology
    •  disabilities
    •  the workplace
    •  gender and family issues

Founded by independent filmmakers nearyly thirty years ago, our goal has been to create for our clients a select collection of educational programs which are independent in their vision, emotionally and intellectually engaging in their approach, and accurate and up-to-date in their content. Our catalog strives to present contemporary cross-cultural perspectives on the issues of concern to our many audiences, and we are engaged in an ongoing effort to maximize the accessibility of our collection.

Our collection includes Academy Award winners and nominees, as well as films that have been honored by the Sundance Film Festival, the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Awards, and major media festivals throughout the United States.

Most of our releases represent the personal vision of independent filmmakers; others have been created by broadcast producers and by organizations in our fields of interest. We currently represent almost three hundred titles
and one hundred and fifty producers.

Ben Achtenberg, Fanlight's founder, received an Academy Award nomination for Code Gray: Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing — possibly the only nursing film ever so honored. Ben's other award winning documentaries have focused on such topics as parenting, homelessness, disabilities, aging, and healthcare ethics. He has also been active in collective efforts to support the distribution of independent media. He is the Director of The Refuge Media Project for which he is producing a documentary, Refuge: Caring for Survivors of Torture on the healthcare and social service needs of refuge torture survivors living in the United States. For Ben's resume and filmography click here.

To read an interview with Ben Achtenberg in the Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers (AIVF) about Fanlight's philosophy and goals, click here.

In October 2009, Fanlight Productions was acquired by Icarus Flims. Icarus Films was started in 1978, with an emphasis on films from and about the Middle East. Over the years the film collection broadened to include films in many areas of social, political and cultural concern, and most areas of the humanities and social sciences. Icarus Films is proud to now distribute over 750 titles, to theatrical, nontheatrical, educational, home video and home entertainment, online and television markets in the US and Canada.

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