Strand Releasing is acquiring North American rights to Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles’ critically acclaimed documentary MALA MALA. A celebration of the trans and drag communities in Puerto Rico, the film made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and will have its highly anticipated debut in theaters on July 1st at the IFC Center.
Strand has a rich history of distributing a wide array of LGBT films from around the world, including Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN, Daniel Ribeiro’s THE WAY HE LOOKS, James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., and Hong Khaou’s LILTING. They are also distributing the upcoming Alanté Kavaïté’s THE SUMMER OF SANGAILÉ, Anucha Boonyawatana’s THE BLUE HOUR, and Dean Francis’ DROWN.
MALA MALA is a unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ activists, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, MALA MALA portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows. Filmed over the course of a historic three-year period, MALA MALA records the beginning of a new transliberation movement in Puerto Rico, as trans people came out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Through riveting cinematography that encapsulates the candy-colored, vivacious personalities as well as their frequently dark personal experiences, directors Santini and Sickles dynamically present the passion and hardships reflective of this distinctly binary human experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzEy6pJ80nwDocumentary
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Strand Releasing Grabs Puerto Rican Transgender Documentary MALA MALA For Release in U.S. | TRAILER
Strand Releasing is acquiring North American rights to Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles’ critically acclaimed documentary MALA MALA. A celebration of the trans and drag communities in Puerto Rico, the film made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and will have its highly anticipated debut in theaters on July 1st at the IFC Center.
Strand has a rich history of distributing a wide array of LGBT films from around the world, including Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN, Daniel Ribeiro’s THE WAY HE LOOKS, James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., and Hong Khaou’s LILTING. They are also distributing the upcoming Alanté Kavaïté’s THE SUMMER OF SANGAILÉ, Anucha Boonyawatana’s THE BLUE HOUR, and Dean Francis’ DROWN.
MALA MALA is a unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ activists, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, MALA MALA portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows. Filmed over the course of a historic three-year period, MALA MALA records the beginning of a new transliberation movement in Puerto Rico, as trans people came out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Through riveting cinematography that encapsulates the candy-colored, vivacious personalities as well as their frequently dark personal experiences, directors Santini and Sickles dynamically present the passion and hardships reflective of this distinctly binary human experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzEy6pJ80nw
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2015 deadCENTER Film Festival to Open With ‘Best of Enemies’ and ‘Rolling Papers’
For the first time in its 15-year history, 2015 deadCENTER Film Festival will roll-out two official Opening Night films: “Best of Enemies,” at 6 p.m. and “Rolling Papers” at 8:30 p.m.at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Dr.
The 15th Annual deadCENTER Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, June 11 through Sunday, June 14 at five locations in downtown Oklahoma City.
“Best of Enemies” is a feature documentary directed by Robert Gordon and Oscar winner Moran Neville that follows William F. Buckley, leader of the new conservative movement, and Gore Vidal, leftist novelist and polemicist, as they battle for the soul of America in a series of debates hosted by ABC during the 1968 Presidential Conventions. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Running time: 87 min.
“Rolling Papers” (pictured above) is a feature documentary directed by Mitch Dickman about the Denver Post’s Ricardo Baca, the world’s first marijuana editor of a major newspaper. Policy news, strain reviews, parenting advice and edible recipes are the new norm on a new beat: pot journalism. Running time: 79 min.
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Watch Trailer for HBO Documentary LARRY KRAMER IN LOVE & ANGER
HBO has released the trailer for LARRY KRAMER IN LOVE & ANGER, premiering on Monday, June 29, at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. Directed by Jean Carlomusto, Larry Kramer in Love & Anger is a feature-length documentary about the legendary author, activist and playwright, Larry Kramer. It is an in-depth, “warts and all” portrait of one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired a generation of gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives.
Known simultaneously as egotistic, irrationally angry, self-promoting and rude, to his admirers he is a prophet whose early warnings to the gay community about promiscuity and AIDS now read as eerily prescient. A pioneering activist, Larry co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis and ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), where his calls for direct action protest made AIDS a national issue, forever changing public health policy. At the same time, his literary achievements championed the lives of gay people: a Tony Award for The Normal Heart; an Emmy Award for the HBO movie THE NORMAL HEART and an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay for Women in Love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIYPJDaITwU
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Sports Documentary THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM Set For One-Day Release in Theaters
The documentary THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM, written and directed by Jon Long, is gearing up for a national one-day theatrical event release on June 10, 2015 in more than 75 theaters. The Earth Network, Abramorama, GrindTV, Tugg and Vimeo are collaborating on the US theatrical release.
The film’s VOD release in the United States will be on August 10, 2015. eONE and Universal are releasing the film on VOD across Canada and the around the world on August 10th as well.
THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM is described as a visceral, visual experience chronicling how an electrifying new world came about through pure energy and imagination and the infinite possibilities of self-expression available to anyone willing to drop in. Told through the eyes, and the footage, of some of the brightest pioneers, legends, visionaries and champions of surfing, snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, mountain biking and more.
The film features interviews with skate board legend Tony Hawk, world champion surfer Kelly Slater, the modern day “Evel Knievel” Robbie Maddison, climbing icon Ron Kauk, windsurfing world Champion Robby Naish, world champion paddle boarder Kai Lenny, world champion long boarder Kelia Moniz, street skater Nyjah Huston, X Games Gold Medalist Tom Schaar, as well as the Godfather of the Action sports film Warren Miller, the father of the mountain bike Gary Fisher, Quiksilver founder and surfer Bob McKnight, filmmaker Bruce Brown, and rock climber and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, among others.
Filmmaker Jon Long stated, “We are thrilled to be collaborating with this group to bring ’The Search for Freedom’ to such a wide audience. This unique collaboration is a wonderful achievement for an independent film.”
https://vimeo.com/129512882
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Documentary THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER Sets July 2015 Release Date
THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER, directed by Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker William Gazecki, and produced and written by Susan and Lloyd Ecker, will be released in the US via Menemsha Films. SOPHIE TUCKER was the Opening Night film at the 2015 Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival and screened at many other film festivals, and will open on July 24th at Cinema Village and JCC Manhattan in New York, as well as at the Royal and Town Center in Los Angeles and at Westpark 8 in Irvine. Many other cities will open the film on the same day.
THE OUTRAGEOUS SOPHIE TUCKER is the rags to riches story of one of old time showbiz’s biggest personalities. From 1906 through the beginning of television, Sophie Tucker and her bawdy, brash, and risqué songs paved the way for performers such as Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Midler, Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé.
After eight years spent reading hundreds of Tucker’s personal scrapbooks, visiting fourteen archives, and interviewing dozens of family, friends, and fellow icons of stage and screen, Susan and Lloyd Ecker have completed their comprehensive documentary about the Last of the Red Hot Mamas.
“Sophie was like the Forrest Gump of the first half of the 1900s,” says producer Susan Ecker. “She was close friends with seven U.S. presidents, King George VI, young Queen Elizabeth, Charlie Chaplin, J. Edgar Hoover, Al Capone, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra and every other notable of her era.”
“After immersing ourselves in Sophie’s 400+ personal scrapbooks and meeting all of Tucker’s surviving friends and family,” says producer Lloyd Ecker, “this film biography is the complete uncensored tale of this vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television and Hollywood legend. Though she obsessively documented her life, Sophie loved to exaggerate for dramatic effect. Over the years, she told multiple versions of each important event. At the end, not even Sophie knew the difference between truth and tall tale”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyUlZm4O4yE
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Documentary film I AM CHRIS FARLEY Sets Summer 2015 Release Date
Virgil Films will release the documentary film I AM CHRIS FARLEY, described as the definitive biographical film about the late comedy star, featuring his co-stars and colleagues such as Christina Applegate, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Molly Shannon, David Spade, and many others. The new film, directed by Brent Hodge and Derik Murray, will open in key markets in the US nationwide in the summer of 2015, and will debut on Spike on Monday, August 10 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, to be followed by Video-On-Demand availability.
The film, from the directors of I Am Evel Knievel, A Brony Tale, and the upcoming Johnny Cash – American Rebel, tells Chris Farley’s story from his early days in Madison, Wisconsin and at Marquette University, through his work at the legendary club Second City, to his rapid rise to the top of the comedy world on “Saturday Night Live” and in hit films like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep.
Sharing insights into the beloved funnyman are such co-stars and colleagues as Christina Applegate, Tom Arnold, Dan Aykroyd, Bo Derek, Pat Finn, Jon Lovitz, Lorne Michaels, Jay Mohr, Mike Myers, Bob Odenkirk, Bob Saget, Adam Sandler, Will Sasso, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Brian Stack and Fred Wolf. The filmmakers also speak to Farley’s four siblings, including his brother Kevin, a comedian and actor, and his brother Tom Jr., who wrote the biography “The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts.”
“Chris Farley’s talent knew no bounds”, stated co-director and producer Derik Murray, “A fearless performer who sought only to please an audience, he left behind a remarkable body of work, and we are proud to present his story with the support of an iconic cast that knew and loved Chris.”
Added Virgil Films’ Joe Amodei, “I AM CHRIS FARLEY reveals the real man behind the comic genius – and poignantly reminds us of the great work that went left undone.”
With the full cooperation and participation of the Farley family, I AM CHRIS FARLEY showcases the performer’s most memorable characters and skits from television and film, paired with iconic photographs, home movies, family snapshots and personal artifacts, to fully round out the story of this comedy legend – a bear of a man who nevertheless had remarkable grace and physicality. Clips from Farley’s most memorable performances fill the documentary, from his side-splitting Chippendales audition alongside Patrick Swayze, to his comically ill-fated salesman in Tommy Boy, to his bombastic diatribes as Matt Foley, the motivational speaker who “lives in a van down by the river!”
Farley lived his life full speed and committed to make everyone around him laugh out loud, and I AM CHRIS FARLEY will tell his hilarious, touching and wildly entertaining story for the first time ever.
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Watch Trailer for HOT GIRLS WANTED Documentary About World Of Amateur Porn
Netflix has released a trailer for “Hot Girls Wanted”, a documentary produced by Rashida Jones, that offers a first-ever look at the realities of the professional “amateur” porn world, and the steady stream of 18-to-19-year old girls entering into it. “Hot Girls Wanted” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
“The film was created to not only expose this appalling business but to serve as a warning to teens and parents that good opportunities, particularly online, are never what they seem,” Netflix said in a statement.
“Hot Girls Wanted” documentary is now streaming on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTkEIGsNXu4
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See Poster, and Watch Trailer for Amy Whinehouse Documentary AMY
The poster and trailer are released for the Amy Winehouse documentary, AMY, which world premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and is scheduled to open in New York & Los Angeles on July 3, 2015 followed by nationwide on July 10, 2015.
From BAFTA award-winning director Asif Kapadia (SENNA), AMY tells the incredible story of six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse – in her own words. Featuring extensive unseen archive footage and previously unheard tracks, this strikingly modern, moving and vital film shines a light on the world we live in, in a way that very few can.
A once-in-a-generation talent, Amy Winehouse was a musician that captured the world’s attention. A pure jazz artist in the most authentic sense – she wrote and sung from the heart using her musical gifts to analyse her own problems. The combination of her raw honesty and supreme talent resulted in some of the most unique and adored songs of the modern era.
Her huge success, however, resulted in relentless and invasive media attention which coupled with Amy’s troubled relationships and precarious lifestyle saw her life tragically begin to unravel. Amy Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at the age of 27.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2yCIwmNuLE
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Abby Ginzberg’s Documentary Film SOFT VENGEANCE wins a Peabody Award
Abby Ginzberg’s feature documentary film SOFT VENGEANCE: ALBIE SACHS AND THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA will be honored at the 74th annual Peabody Awards ceremony it was announced today by the Peabody program at the University of Georgia. The critically acclaimed film will receive the coveted Peabody Award at a gala ceremony in New York City on May 31st.
“We hope this incredible award will help increase the visibility of Albie Sachs and inspire others to fight for human rights around the world,” commented the film’s director Abby Ginzberg. “Albie Sachs is one of the key champions for equality of our time and we are honored to be entrusted with his legacy on film,” she concluded.
SOFT VENGEANCE is set against the dramatic events leading to the overthrow of the apartheid regime in South Africa and focusses on the lawyer, writer, art lover and freedom fighter Albie Sachs. The human rights activist was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Cape Town, tortured through sleep deprivation and forced into exile. In 1988, he was blown up by a car bomb set by the South African security forces in Maputo, Mozambique, which cost him his right arm and the sight of one eye, but miraculously he survived and after a long year of rehabilitation in England, he recovered. Returning to South Africa following the release of Nelson Mandela, Albie helped write the new Constitution and was then appointed as one of the first 11 judges to the new Constitutional Court.
SOFT VENGEANCE has been screening at film festivals around the world and has won the audience award for Best International Documentary at the Encounters Film Festival and the Vancouver South African Film Festival. It has also received the Grand Prize Humanitarian Award from the Accolade Film Awards. After premiering at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, it also screened at AFI Docs; DOCNYC, Movies that Matter and the Durban Film Festival in South Africa. The film also screened at key international Jewish film festivals.
https://vimeo.com/70589131
The film is executive produced by Alfre Woodard, who also serves as narrator. Abby Ginzberg is the producer and director, Ken Schneider is the Editor and Co-Producer and Rick Goldsmith is the Consulting Producer.
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French documentary about Art during the Holocaust, BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER Sets US Release Date
BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER, a documentary film by Christophe Cognet, will be released in the US by Cinema Guild. BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER, an official selection at the Jerusalem Film Festival and other international film festivals, will open at Lincoln Plaza in New York City on April 24. A national release will follow.
In 1945, when the Allies liberated the concentration camps, they discovered thousands of secretly created artworks. These drawings, hidden from the Nazis, offer an unparalleled understanding of life in the camps. Featuring interviews with surviving artists, curators, as well as recently uncovered evidence, this fascinating documentary considers the ability of art to capture, reflect and survive under unimaginable conditions.
BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER explores a wide range of perspectives, from an artist who grapples with finding beauty in paintings of corpses to Treblinka survivor Samuel Willenberg who believes that the artworks can be nothing but inherently devoid of beauty. In addition to works intended as art, the film contemplates the role of alternative relics such as portraits of Romani victims killed by infamous Nazi physician Josef Mengele and paintings that were recreated years later because originals were lost or destroyed.
The film looks at paintings, drawings, wash drawings, and sculptures held in collections in France, Germany, Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium and Switzerland. While drifting among these fragments of clandestine images and the vestiges of the camps, BECAUSE I WAS A PAINTER undertakes a sensitive quest amid faces, bodies and landscapes to explore the notion of art—and its preservation—as an atavistic necessity.
http://vimeo.com/116290914
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Songbird Documentary EMPTYING THE SKIES to Be Released on Earth Day
EMPTYING THE SKIES documentary, based on the New Yorker Magazine essay by best-selling novelist Jonathan Franzen, that exposes the rampant poaching of migratory songbirds in southern Europe, opens in NY at Cinema Village, as well as in Chicago on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, and on VOD platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and YouTube.
Songbird populations have been drastically declining for several decades, with a number of species facing imminent extinction. This poignant documentary explores the wonder of these tiny globe-spanning marvels, millions of which are unlawfully trapped and killed each year for large sums on the black market, and follows the intrepid squad of pan-European bird-lovers who risk their lives waging a secret war against poachers, to disrupt illegal trapping to free as many as possible.
Embedding filmmakers Douglas Kass and Roger Kass with their activist subjects, this year-long undertaking transports viewers right onto the front lines as poachers are confronted at critical migration pinch-points in Cyprus, France and Italy. A moving call to arms in the spirit of THE COVE, EMPTYING THE SKIES chronicles a devastating environmental tragedy and the valiant journey of those risking their lives to stop it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js6tM4ClJHk
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DREAMCATCHER Sets Showtime Network Premiere Date
DREAMCATCHER, an inspirational portrait of Chicago’s Brenda Myers-Powell whose Dreamcatcher Foundation fights to end human trafficking and prevent the sexual exploitation of at-risk youth, will premiere on the Showtime network on March 27th at 9 pm ET/PT.
Dreamcatcher, directed by Kim Longinotto, had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Documentary section, where it won the World Cinema Directing Award.
The film focusses on Brenda Myers-Powell, a former Chicago prostitute who helps women and teenage girls break the cycle of sexual abuse and exploitation. The film lays bare the hidden violence that devastates the lives of young women, their families and the communities where they live. Armed with an overwhelming personality and unflinching focus, Brenda establishes The Dreamcatcher Foundation, which helps women and girls acquire the tools they need to leave the sex industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRR3ZM6DQ28
via indiewire