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Your favourite film is probably a Searchlight film. You just might not know it yet.

An independent film powerhouse formed in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, to tell the story of Searchlight is to tell the story of the last thirty years of indie film itself: follow the company's decades-spanning thread, weaving award winners and cult classics together, and find a slate of modern masterpieces dear to the hearts of both the most devoted cinephile and the casual movie-goer.

Thirty years on from its formation, Picturehouse is giving Searchlight our equivalent of a 'Hall of Fame' spot: a reDiscover season dedicated to some of the best films from those three decades of magic. Within it, you'll find household-name directors, big storytelling swings, some of the best actors working today, and something truly unique for a company of its scale: the sense that there are people behind the scenes who really, really care about cinema.

To give you some more backstory, here are the headline stats. Tom Rothman founded Searchlight in the '90s to produce and distribute galvanising, globe-spanning cinema to audiences at a time when indie films were starting to become a hot commodity. In response to the blockbuster-powered '80s, suddenly Hollywood's biggest names were less Schwarzenegger and more Tarantino – and Searchlight made sure to give those films and their creators a proper shot at success.

One such title was Peter Cattaneo's 1997 steelworkers-turned-strippers comedy The Full Monty. In less capable hands it might have been beloved here in its home nation, but would never have made much of a splash abroad. With Searchlight's heft behind it, this irresistible crowd-pleaser earned over $200 million worldwide, its Sheffield charms taking it all the way to the Oscars.

Speaking of Oscars, have a poke around Searchlight's offices and you're liable to find a few. The company has secured a whopping 195 nominations in its time, and as of this moment, there are 51 to their name (but we're sure that'll only increase come this year's award season). 22 Searchlight films have managed to snag a Best Picture nod, and we have seven of them playing in our season, including Guillermo del Toro's otherworldly fairytale The Shape of Water, Martin McDonagh's melancholy dramedy The Banshees of Inisherin, and Wes Anderson's maximalist marvel The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Names like those three prove Searchlight backs genius talent behind the camera, but there's plenty in front of it, too, with star-studded ensemble pieces from Sunshine to Little Miss Sunshine. A little love from Searchlight can be the thing that encourages a beloved cult filmmaker to break down boundaries (see Park Chan-wook's simmering English-language debut Stoker), or the thing that puts under-the-radar talent on the road to Hollywood heights – after his quirky anti-rom-com (500) Days of Summer was a hit, Marc Webb swung his way into the Spider-Man franchise.

Speaking to industry bible Deadline earlier this year, Searchlight UK's Pete Spencer described "a deep humanity" that runs "pretty much through all [Searchlight] films", with the team on both sides of the pond ensuring they take time to nurture relationships with the artists they work with. It's that palpable, deep-rooted humanity that makes Searchlight's films stand out, and really, our season only scratches the surface of how many remarkable stories it has helped put out into the world.

So delve into our curated Searchlight collection this winter – and keep an eye out for the company's golden, beam-lit logo in front of the next new film you watch, too. Chances are, it'll be a great one.  Lara Peters

This is Searchlight is now screening at Picturehouse: tickets start at just £8, and just £1 for Members. Find out more at picturehouses.com/searchlight.