Film Lovers, Rejoice: Austin Public Library Unveils 'Kanopy' Streaming Service

AUSTIN, TX — The Austin Public Library has joined other major cities in offering Kanopy, a streaming service allowing users to access a curated collection of more than 30,000 of the world's best films.

The offering is being made through a partnership with more than 4,000 libraries around the world, officials said. Austin joins major cities that include Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Phoenix and others in offering Kanopy to its users.

More than 5 million Kanopy users stream movies and documentaries from award-winning filmmakers, see film festival picks and experience the best in independent and classic films, world cinema and critical favorites, Austin Public Library (APL) officials noted.

"There are no commercials or fees for users," officials said. "Their libraries have it covered for them; all users need is a library card to get started."

Library officials provided some fun facts related to the new Kanopy offering:

• Kanopy’s library is made up of 60% documentaries. They have more than 1 million minutes and more than 17,000 hours of content. It’s available in more than 200 library systems and over 1200 individual public library locations across the United States.
• APL has 23 library branches including the Central Library, Austin History Center, Carver, Cepeda, Hampton at Oak Hill, Howson, Little Walnut Creek, Manchaca Road, Milwood, North Village, Old Quarry, Pleasant Hill, Recycled Reeds Bookstore, Ruiz, St. John, Southeast, Spicewood Springs, Terrazas, Twin Oaks, University Hills, Willie Mae Kirk, Windsor Park and Yarborough.
• Content highlights include documentaries, feature films, rare and hard-to-find titles, and classic films, with curated work from The Great Courses, Kino Lorber, Music Box Films, Samuel Goldwyn, The Orchard, PBS and thousands of independent filmmakers. Selections from the Criterion Collection are available at APL. All available films can be seen here: https://austinpl.kanopystreaming.com/.
• Some key titles include the Oscar nominated documentary, I am Not Your Negro, rare films like Francis Ford Coppola’s Dementia 13, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and Two Days in Paris.
• Kanopy highlights local filmmakers, locally set films and films that are relevant to today’s issues. A number of films about Texas are available on Kanopy and can be found here: http://bit.ly/FilmsAboutTexas.
• Kanopy, can be accessed from leading devices and platforms, including Roku, iOS and Android and is launching on Apple TV in the next few weeks.
• Kanopy was founded in 2008 by CEO Olivia Humphrey as an educational tool for colleges and universities. The service has recently become available in public libraries and access is rapidly expanding across the US, Canada and Australia.

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>>> Image provided by Austin Public Library