Directed by Xan Cassavetes • 2004 • United States

Catnip for cinephiles, Xan Cassavetes’s richly absorbing documentary traces the euphoric rise and tragic descent of Z Channel, Los Angeles’s first pay-cable service, and its virtuosic film programmer Jerry Harvey. Launched in 1974, Z Channel quickly became required viewing for Hollywood bigwigs and cinephiles alike. Classics, cult rarities, Euro films, lost treasures, genre flicks, Hollywood blockbusters, and beyond—Harvey made room for them all. Even as he grappled with great personal distress, under his purview Z Channel became the first screening forum for director’s cuts of major works like HEAVEN’S GATE, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, and THE WILD BUNCH. Featuring interviews with collaborators, critics, and filmmakers such as Robert Altman, Paul Verhoeven, Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, and Penelope Spheeris, Z CHANNEL: A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION reveals the lasting legacy of the prestreaming upstart that helped shape a generation of film lovers.