Criterion Channel Scraper

Scrape the Criterion Channel streaming catalog to extract film data. The Criterion Channel offers 3,200+ classic, art-house, and independent films from around the world.

What data can you get?

For each film in the catalog, the scraper extracts:

• Title - Film name
• Director - Director name
• Year - Release year
• Country - Country of origin
• Thumbnail URL - Poster/thumbnail image
• URL - Direct link to the film page

With Scrape Details enabled (visits each film page individually):

• Description - Film synopsis
• Cast - Starring actors
• Duration - Runtime (H:MM:SS)
• Collection - Criterion collection the film belongs to

How to use

Search by query

Provide search queries to filter the catalog by film title, director name, country, or year:

{
    "searchQueries": ["kurosawa", "godard", "Japan"],
    "maxListings": 50
}

Scrape the full catalog

Leave searchQueries empty to scrape the entire catalog:

{
    "searchQueries": [],
    "maxListings": 3500
}

Get full film details

Enable scrapeDetails to visit each film page and extract descriptions, cast, duration, and collection info:

{
    "searchQueries": ["bergman"],
    "maxListings": 20,
    "scrapeDetails": true
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	string[]	[]	Film titles, directors, countries, or years to search. Empty = full catalog.
maxListings	integer	100	Maximum number of films to scrape (1-5000).
scrapeDetails	boolean	false	Visit each film page for full details (slower).
proxyConfiguration	object	-	Optional proxy settings.

Output example

{
    "title": "Seven Samurai",
    "director": "Akira Kurosawa",
    "year": 1954,
    "genre": null,
    "duration": "3:27:09",
    "description": "One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time...",
    "collection": "Seven Samurai",
    "country": "Japan",
    "cast": "Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://vhx.imgix.net/criterionchannelchartersu/assets/...",
    "url": "https://www.criterionchannel.com/seven-samurai",
    "searchQuery": "kurosawa",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-25T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Use cases

• Film research - Build a database of classic and art-house films
• Streaming catalog tracking - Monitor what's available on Criterion Channel
• Director filmographies - Find all films by a specific director
• Country-based film lists - Discover films from specific countries
• Data analysis - Analyze the Criterion Channel's catalog by decade, country, or director
• Watchlist building - Search and compile lists of films to watch

Technical notes

• The scraper reads the full catalog from films.criterionchannel.com which is server-side rendered
• No login required - the catalog listing is publicly accessible
• With scrapeDetails: false, all data comes from a single page load (fast)
• With scrapeDetails: true, each film page is visited individually (slower but richer data)
• Film detail pages are on the Vimeo VHX/OTT platform

Cost estimate

Using Apify's pay-per-event pricing:

• Catalog only (scrapeDetails: false): ~$0.005 per film
• With details (scrapeDetails: true): ~$0.005 per film (additional page loads)
• Full catalog scan (3,200 films, no details): ~$16
• Targeted search (50 films with details): ~$0.25