The Apple deal gives the IFC Films OTT service an important platform where customers can subscribe directly through the Apple TV app, for $5.99 per month. The streaming service launched with just over 400 films available in the U.S.

The subscription video on demand streaming channel is comprised of theatrically released titles from distribution labels IFC Films, Sundance Selects and genre label IFC Midnight.The Truth, which premiered at Venice, will be available on IFC Films Unlimited in Canada in the first pay window directly following its theatrical run. Pic stars Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, and Ethan Hawke. It’s the fourth Kore-eda film IFC has distributed, after Nobody Knows, Still Walking and Like Father Like Son.

“Since launching in May, IFC Films Unlimited has outperformed our expectations, attracting specialty film fans who are looking for high-quality independent film across a variety of genres,” said Lisa Schwartz, Co-President of IFC Films. “It’s fitting that our first launch in Canada coincides with TIFF, where we’ve been proud to showcase so many of the festival’s top-tier films including this year, with IFC Films’ The Truth. The film will debut on IFC Films Unlimited on Apple TV channels. Customers in Canada will be able to watch ‘The Truth’ immediately following its theatrical run, which demonstrates our commitment to making our films available to fans as soon as possible, whenever possible.”

Schwartz told Deadline that IFC films do very well in Canada, and the streaming service there will have a slightly different structure for IFC Films product. “When we theatrically release The Truth next year, it will go the streaming service in Canada as the pay one window and that will be the way it works for most of our films in Canada, whereas in the U.S. they mostly go to Showtime and Hulu, first, and then go to IFC Films Unlimited,” she told Deadline. “So this launch is a first pay window platform in the territory. We’re really excited by that.”

IFC Films Unlimited launches with such past TIFF titles as the Olivier Assayas-directed Clouds Of Sils Maria, starring Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart; the Robert Budreau-directed Born To Be Blue with Ethan Hawke, the Christian Petzold-directed Phoenix, the Noah Baumbach-directed Frances Ha with Greta Gerwig, and the Matthew Brown-directedThe Man Who Knew Infinity, which stars Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons, among several others. The channel also launches with such IFC Films releases as Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Thin Blue Line, The Trip, 45 Years, Two Days, One Night, documentaries How To Survive A Plague and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, and genre films including The Babadook and Room 237.

The Apple TV app works on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, all 2019 Samsung smart TVs and select 2018 models. Apple TV channels play dirctly on the app, on-demand and ad-free and a Family Sharing option allows customers to share with up to five family members.

Among the initial offerings: Palme d’Or winners “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” “Dheepan,” “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” plus “Certified Copy,” “Gomorrah,” “Kid with a Bike,” and “Tale of Tales,” among several hundred others. More will be added on a regular basis.

The launch is coinciding with this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where many of the distributor’s most celebrated movies first premiered. IFC Films Unlimited will first be available on Amazon Prime Video Channel for a monthly price of $5.99.

“Over our nearly 20-year history, we’ve been fortunate to have established a rich library of the best in independent film and we thought the time was right to create an IFC Films-branded platform,” said Lisa Schwartz, IFC Films Co-President. “Bringing together a broad collection of films that span our many labels and genres, IFC Films Unlimited will be a general entertainment destination for specialty film fans.”

“This is part of a deliberate strategy,” Schwartz told Variety. “We watched the landscape shifting and realized that we’ve got such a terrific large library that we might be better served by taking some rights back and releasing those films under our own roof.”

“We’re going to continually evaluate as we grow our subscriber base,” she added. “But our goal is to make this a destination where you can find great films.”

Founded in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films ranks among the most well-regarded distributors of independent cinema. Among its best-known releases are “Y Tu Mamá También,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Carlos,” “Gomorrah,” “Antichrist,” “Frances Ha,” “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” “The Babadook,” and “Boyhood.”