Ben Barenholtz (October 5, 1935 – June 27, 2019) was a Polish-born American film exhibitor, distributor and producer, who was a presence in the independent film scene since the late 1960s, when he opened The Elgin Cinema in New York City in 1968. He is known for his innovations distributing and screening films; having discovered first time directors such as The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, John Sayles and Guy Maddin, and the first American presentations of Cousin Cousine, and John Woo's The Killer.