Janus Films was founded in 1956, in the historic Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was the first theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing international art-house films to U.S. audiences, including the work of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, François Truffaut, and Yasujiro Ozu.
Janus handles rights in all media, and its library has grown to more than 800 films.