Auckland’s Academy Cinemas launches movie streaming platform

by Stuff

Kirsten Dunst in a scene from the Lars Von Trier film Melancholia.

April 8, 2020

By Stuff Writers

Auckland’s Academy Cinemas is launching an online streaming service to help moviegoers during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Academy OnDemand will bring independent, foreign and classic movie titles to Kiwis in lockdown.

Cinemas around the country were closed down before the lockdown was put in place two weeks ago, as many distributors had pulled their films amid ongoing uncertainty and health concerns.

The Academy says the service had been in the works “for a number of months, but with Level 4 lockdown in effect, the steaming service’s launch has been pulled forward to ensure audiences appetite for high quality, independent film is being met.”

Films on offer to rent for 7 days will cost between $4.99 and $7.99.

Some of the titles at launch will include critically acclaimed local films Pecking Order, Waru and Vai.

A selection of independent films will range from You Were Never Really Here, Under the Silver Lake and Support the Girls, and foreign titles will include the Oscar-winning Parasite, La Dolce Vita, About Elly and The Tribe.

The programming team says it’s hopeful it can add more films to the list “in the coming weeks.”

Launch titles include Pecking Order, Waru, Vai, Next of Kin, Come to Daddy, You Were Never Really Here, Under the Silver Lake, Support the Girls, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Melancholia, La Dolce Vita, Parasite, The Tribe, Wild Goose Lake and Girl.

Read original article here.

Feature Image credits belong to Stuff/Lars Von Trier’s film Melancholia.