Beaks here...
In 1981, Bingham Ray was a projectionist at the Bleecker Street Theatre in New York City. Nine years later, he co-founded October Films (with Jeff Lipsky) as a means of distributing Mike Leigh's LIFE IS SWEET. The small British drama received rapturous reviews and was a modest success on the art house circuit, which ensured that it would find its way to well-stocked video stores all over the United States. By 1996, Ray and a thriving October Films were able to get Leigh's SECRETS AND LIES on multiplex screens that might've otherwise been wasted on the fifth week of THAT DARN CAT. As a young cinephile who typically had to wait a year for films like SECRETS AND LIES to hit home video, I was beyond grateful for the tireless efforts of the October Films gang.
And so I am incredibly saddened to learn that Bingham Ray, one of the great champions of quality cinema over the last forty years, has passed away at the age of fifty-seven after suffering a series of strokes. He was attending the Sundance Film Festival (where October Films acquired Victor Nunez's RUBY IN PARADISE eighteen years ago) after recently being named the executive director of the San Francisco Film Society.
October Films is a huge part of Ray's legacy (without it, films like Guillermo del Toro's CRONOS and Thomas Vinterberg's Dogme '95 masterpiece CELEBRATION might've languished in obscurity), but he continued to do great works for the art form after leaving the company in 1999 (which was subsequently rebranded as USA Films). He was named president of United Artists in 2001, and distributed through MGM such non-mainstream fare as Danis Tanovic's NO MAN'S LAND, Hal Hartley's NO SUCH THING, Michael Winterbottom's 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, Michael Moore's BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (which won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary), Rebecca Miller's PERSONAL VELOCITY: THREE PORTRAITS, Jim Jarmusch's COFFEE AND CIGARETTES and Terry George's HOTEL RWANDA. This eclectic group of films was indicative of Ray's varied, impeccable taste. He loved all types of films, and fought to share these unique visions with the world. And for a brief moment, challenging movies like BREAKING THE WAVES and SECRETS AND LIES flickered across screens in places they would never, ever screen today.
I know people who were lucky enough to work for or converse with Ray over the years, and all were in awe of his passion for movies. Ray was one of the most beloved figures in the industry. His wisdom, devotion and generosity will be missed. In his honor, buy something small or defiantly uncommercial on VOD today (or hit up your local art house if you're lucky enough to live in a city that has such a strange thing). And I second Matthew Klekner in recommending that you read Peter Biskind's DOWN AND DIRTY PICTURES for a thorough history of October Films.
