Amazon now has exclusive streaming rights for movies by Drafthouse Films

Drafthouse Films, the distribution arm of Austin’s movie house chain Alamo Drafthouse, has an excellent eye for good films. Most recently, they released the home invasion thriller Borgman, a visually stunning update on the fable that borders on the darkest comedy. This seems to be the Drafthouse Films formula. Now, they’re getting a larger audience. Amazon Prime acquired exclusive rights to Drafthouse Films, via a licensing agreement with Cinedigm, and will begin streaming some of the company’s titles over the next few months, including Borgman, Ben Wheatley’s psychedelic Civil War trip A Field in England, Abel Ferrara’s 1981 revenge poem Ms. 45, SXSW hit Cheap Thrills, and Michel Gondry’s new film, Mood Indigo.

Amazon has secured the exclusive rights to make Prime Instant Video the place for film buffs to see movies distributed by Drafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. Amazon has a smattering of titles available today, including Ben Wheatley’s “A Field in England” and “Cheap Thrills,” a black comedy starring Pat Healy and Ethan Embry. Other films, including a documentary about Nick Cave titled “20,000 Years on Earth” and “Mood Indigo” from director Michael Gondry, will be available for streaming later this year. It’s another move by Amazon to improve its streaming offering for Prime subscribers. The company has been working hard to round up exclusive content deals that can set Prime Video apart from competitors like Netflix as a way to encourage people to keep up their subscriptions. Earlier this year, Amazon licensed a number of shows from HBO’s back catalog, including “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” as a part of its expanding content base. In addition to the video catalog, Amazon also recently added Prime Music to its suite of content offerings. Prime users are now able to stream as much music as they want from Amazon’s particular streaming catalog. The service doesn’t have as large a selection as other, dedicated streaming services, but it is free to Prime subscribers.