Films

Tonya Lewis Lee And Nikki Silver’s ToniK Productions’ Film “MONSTER” To Premiere At 2018 Sundance Film Festival

Monster, based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Walter Dean Myers, will world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film from Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikki Silver’s ToniK Productions, and written by Radha Blank (She’s Gotta Have It, Empire), Colen C. Wiley and Janece Shaffer, will debut on Monday, January 22nd at 3PM in the Dramatic Competition. Shot entirely in New York City, Monster surrounds the story of 17-year-old honors student Steve Harmon. Steve is an aspiring filmmaker attending an elite high school in New York, and is being charged with felony murder for a crime he says he did not commit. “Monster” is what the prosecutor calls Harmon, but is Steve truly a Monster? As Steve’s world comes crashing down around him, the film follows his journey from a smart, likeable young man from Harlem through a complex legal battle that could leave him spending the rest of his life in prison. Monster is sure to stimulate conversation in today’s relevant narrative on youth in prisons, excessive sentencing, peer pressure, and likeminded issues. Monster features an outstanding ensemble cast including: Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The Birth of A Nation), Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Jennifer Ehle (Little Men, Zero Dark Thirty), A$AP Rocky, (Dope, Zoolander 2), Nas, (The Get Down), Tim Blake Nelson (Fantastic Four, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), John David Washington (Ballers) and Jeffrey Wright (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1 & 2, Westworld). “We’re thrilled and humbled to be participating in this year’s Sundance Film Festival. We believe the current social and cultural landscape makes the message of Monster even more relevant and important,” says Tonya Lewis Lee of ToniK Productions. “As producers committed to tackling the toughest issues of our time, we believe Monster is no exception. This has been an ongoing passion project for us and we are thrilled to bring it to the public forum.” adds ToniK co-founder Nikki Silver. In addition to Tonya Lewis Lee, Nikki Silver, and ToniK Productions, Monster producers include Aaron L. Gilbert and Bron Studios, Edward Nahem and Mike Jackson of Get Lifted Film Co. Nas, Red Crown’s Daniel Crown and Yoni Liebling, Creative Wealth’s Jason Cloth and Richard McConnell, Linnea Roberts and Get Lifted’s John Legend and Ty Stiklorius are all executive producers. Legend and Nas will both play a role in the film’s music. Image: Kelvin Harrison Jr. appears in Monster by Anthony Mandler, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by David Devlin.
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Critically-Acclaimed Documentary THE FAMILY I HAD to Premiere on Investigation Discovery

In The Family I Had a mother’s love and ability to forgive is profoundly tested when her teenage son kills her daughter. The film which had its world premiere in April at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival will premiere exclusively on Investigation Discovery on Thursday, December 21st. It’s been ten years since Charity’s son, Paris, killed her daughter, Ella, and she is left questioning both his chance at redemption and her ability to forgive. The Family I Had peels back the layers to reveal a history previously marked by intra-family violence, illuminating the anatomy of a broken family. Multiple accounts allow for conflicting points of view, leaving the audience questioning where the ultimate truth and accountability lies in this family rocked by tragedy. The Family I Had is co-directed and produced by Katie Green and Carlye Rubin, who have shared a fascination with family stories and the themes of loss and dysfunction within them, stemming from having each experienced loss at a young age. Centering around the taboo, and largely under covered, issue of violence within a family, this revealing new documentary examines the complicated relationships of a family in mourning. With unprecedented access to the family, The Family I Had follows Charity on her journey toward trust with her son and mother, while she tries to redefine her place in the world and rebuild her family. She faces difficult questions as she navigates an uncertain future. Will the fear of losing another child ever go away? Will she ever be able to agree with her mother about Paris’ past and what caused him to commit such a horrific act? “Filmmakers Katie and Carlye have created an emotionally moving, and brutally honest portrait of a real-life single mother whose family has been ripped apart by an unspeakable tragedy,” said Henry Schleiff, Group President, Investigation Discovery, Destination American and American Heroes Channel. “The Family I Had presents a unique opportunity to consider the complex issues around the loss of a loved one, through this touching story of a family on a path to forgiveness, while desperately seeking a means to move forward.” “Thematically, we’re very drawn to stories surrounding loss,” said filmmakers Katie Green and Carlye Rubin. “We saw Charity as a mother whose love and ability to forgive was profoundly tested when her son killed her daughter. After losing both of her children, she was left redefining her place in the world, and did so by retracing her family’s past. We wanted to put the audience in that uncomfortable place to challenge their preconceived notions of guilt and accountability (in the same way making this film has challenged ours) so viewers come away with a more nuanced understanding of unconditional love and forgiveness.”
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Biopic OLIVER TAMBO: HAVE YOU HEARD FROM JOHANNESBURG to World Premiere on AfriDocs on BET

[caption id="attachment_25737" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Oliver Tambo: Have You Heard from Johannesburg[/caption] This month, AfriDocs on BET will present a powerful broadcast event, the World Premiere of the just completed biopic: Oliver Tambo: Have You Heard from Johannesburg on the man who freed Nelson Mandela and engineered the fall of Apartheid. This unique film comes at a critical time in South Africa’s history as the current ANC heads into its elective conference. Through this powerful film viewers are given the rare opportunity for insights into the life, ethos, and politics of Oliver Tambo, the leader of the ANC who was instrumental in bringing an end to apartheid. The broadcast of the film, just recently been completed in this the 100th year of Oliver Tambo’s birth, could not come at a more opportune moment with the entire southern-African region focused on political upheaval and the toppling of established leaders and norms. Albie Sachs, the Executive Producer of the film, has this to say of its upcoming screening, “The Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation would like to express its support for the upcoming screening of Oliver Tambo: Have You Heard from Johannesburg on AfriDocs on BET on December 10th. This is a spirited, lively and eminently watchable film that brings Oliver Tambo to life on-screen, with moving and poignant interviews from Chris Hani, Kenneth Kaunda and members of the Tambo family. The film shows not just the politics of the man, but also shines a light on a life lived on principles of ethics, compassion, inclusion, social justice and equality. We hope this film is seen by as many people as possible and we are actively supporting efforts to make it as accessible as possible.” The film will be broadcast at a special time on December 10th, at 9:30pm CAT and re-broadcast on December 15th at 1:25pm, The film will also be available on #AFRIDOCSANYTIME, www.afridocs.net for a LIMITED run Dec 11th -20th. Additionally, December will also see the re-broadcast of the classic, Finding Fela, and Omar Sosa: Out of Africa, an intimate musical trip through East Africa with the multiple Grammy nominated Cuban composer, pianist, and bandleader. 3 December When Paul Came Over the Sea | Jakob Preuss | Germany | 2017 | 97 min Paul has made his way from his home in Cameroon across the Sahara to the Moroccan coast where he now lives in a forest waiting for the right moment to cross the Mediterranean. This is where he meets Jakob, a filmmaker from Berlin, who is filming along Europe’s borders. Soon afterwards, Paul manages to cross over to Spain on a rubber boat. He survives – but half of his companions die on this tragic 50-hour odyssey. When Paul decides to continue on to Germany, Jakob has to make a choice: will he become an active part of Paul’s pursuit of a better life or remain a detached documentary filmmaker? Golden Goblet for Best Documentary, Shanghai International Film Festival, 2017 10 December SPECIAL TIME 9:30pm CAT Oliver Tambo: Have You Heard from Johannesburg | Connie Field | South Africa | 2017 | 90 min Political comrades and law partners, Mandela and Tambo shared a political destiny. Nelson Mandela is a household name. Oliver Tambo is virtually unknown. Banned in South Africa, Tambo led the liberation struggle in exile from 1960-1990 while Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island. During those 30 years he not only kept the African National Congress (ANC) unified, led his movement both inside and outside South Africa in a successful battle against apartheid, his calls to the international community to isolate and sanction the South African regime created the most globalised human rights struggle of the 20th century. In the end, his actions released Nelson Mandela and laid the foundation for a new South Africa. Suffering a stroke on the eve of success, OR would not live to see his livelong friend become the first black president of a democratic South Africa. AVAILABLE FREE TO STREAM ON CATCH-UP www.afridocs.net from Dec 11th – 20th 17 December Omar Sosa: Out of Africa | Olivier Taieb | Cuba/ Africa | 2010 | 52 min An intimate musical trip with the multiple Grammy nominated Cuban composer, pianist and bandleader through East Africa. Omar Sosa, influenced by traditional Afro-Cuban music, records a song with a local musician in each country in this epic road movie. 24 December Finding Fela | Alex Gibney | Nigeria | 2014 | 120 min Finding Fela tells the story of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s life, his music, his social and political importance. He created a new musical movement, Afrobeat, using that forum to express his revolutionary political opinions against the dictatorial Nigerian government of the 1970s and 1980s. His influence helped bring a change towards democracy in Nigeria and promoted Pan Africanist politics to the world. The power and potency of Fela’s message is completely current today and is expressed in the political movements of oppressed people, embracing Fela’s music and message in their struggle for freedom. Sundance Film Festival, 2014
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Michael Pearce’s BEAST Eyes a Spring 2018 Release Date After Sundance Debut

Michael Pearce’s Beast starring Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn and Geraldine James will make its U.S. debut in the Spotlight section of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in January. The film which premiered to critical and audience praise at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival will be released in Spring 2018 by 30WEST and Roadside Attractions. The psychological thriller, which is the first feature-length project from writer/director Pearce, centers around a small island community where a troubled young woman falls for a mysterious outsider who empowers her to escape from her oppressive family. When he comes under suspicion for a series of brutal murders, she defends him at all costs and learns what she is capable of. Roadside Attractions’ Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff said: “Beast has been heralded as one of the indie success stories from the Toronto Film Festival. It is an extraordinary and deservedly acclaimed directorial debut from Michael Pearce, who delivers a taut, tense, and stirring thriller with a wonderfully complex heroine at the film’s core. Jessie Buckley gives a magnificent and memorable performance and we are thrilled to partner with the team at 30WEST as we help bring this psychosexual drama to audiences throughout the country.”
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Gloria Allred Documentary SEEING ALLRED Set For Release Early Next Year

[caption id="attachment_25719" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Allred with client Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade), 1989[/caption] The documentary Seeing Allred, that explores the public and private sides of feminist firebrand attorney Gloria Allred, will launch globally on Netflix after its world premiere in the US Documentary Competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Seeing Allred directed by Sophie Sartain (Mimi and Dona, 2015) and Roberta Grossman (Above and Beyond, 2014) will launch on Netflix in early 2018. As sexual violence allegations grip the nation, Seeing Allred provides a candid look at one of the most public crusaders against sexual assault and the war on women. Through rare archival footage and revealing sit-down interviews with both her supporters and critics, this fascinating biographical portrait examines Allred’s personal trauma and assesses both her wins and setbacks on high-profile cases against the likes of Bill Cosby and Donald Trump. “I feel fortunate that “Seeing Allred” captures my passion and battle for justice for many victims of injustice”, said Allred. ” The courage that my clients demonstrate, in speaking truth to power, inspires me every day as we fight together.” What motivates her 40-year-long commitment to justice for women and equal rights for the LGBT community? And do her often-controversial methods work? Featuring interviews with Gloria Steinem, Don Lemon and Allred’s daughter Lisa Bloom, directors Sophie Sartain and Roberta Grossman have crafted a portrait of a woman everyone thinks they know, at a time when those without need her the most.
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Mister Fred Rogers Documentary WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? Gets June 2018 Release

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the new documentary about the life and work of Mister Fred Rogers from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville has been acquired by Focus Features and is set to be released on June 8, 2018. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” takes an intimate look at America’s favorite neighbor: Mister Fred Rogers. A portrait of a man whom we all think we know, this documentary is an emotional and moving film that takes you beyond zip-up cardigans and the land of make-believe, and into the heart of a creative genius, who inspired generations of children with compassion and limitless imagination. “Morgan once again avoids making a traditional biodoc and instead takes us behind the curtain to see how Fred Rogers navigated the cultural and social issues of the second half of the twentieth century with his own brand of forward-thinking, compassionate wisdom far beyond his time,” commented Focus chairman Peter Kujawski. “Mister Rogers makes us all want to be better people, and we couldn’t be more proud to be a part of telling his story today.” “The Fred Rogers I discovered making this film is at once comfortably familiar and completely surprising. I believe Mister Rogers is the kind of voice we need to hear right now,” said director Morgan Neville. “I am thrilled to work with Focus Features on taking this film out into the world, along with my collaborators at Impact Partners and Independent Lens.”
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VIDEO: Watch Insane First Trailer for Russian Dash-Cam Documentary THE ROAD MOVIE

Check out the first trailer for Dmitrii Kalashnikov’s The Road Movie – a documentary of footage from dashboard cameras in Russian automobiles. The Road Movie smashes into cinemas January 19th. A mosaic of asphalt adventures, landscape photography, and some of the craziest shit you’ve ever seen, Dmitrii Kalashnikov’s THE ROAD MOVIE is a stunning compilation of video footage shot exclusively via the deluge of dashboard cameras that populate Russian roads. The epitome of a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it documentary, THE ROAD MOVIE captures a wide range of spectacles through the windshield — including a comet crashing down to Earth, an epic forest fire, and no shortage of angry motorists taking road rage to wholly new and unexpected levels — all accompanied by bemused commentary from unseen and often stoic drivers and passengers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAW0LcCs35s
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Cork Film Festival 2017 Awards – Irish Short Film WAVE Wins Grand Prix Irish Short

[caption id="attachment_25582" align="aligncenter" width="1201"] Wave[/caption] Irish short film Wave is the winner of the Grand Prix Irish Short at the Cork Film Festival 2017 Awards Ceremony. Benjamin Cleary and TJ O’Grady Peyton’s winning short will now go on the longlist for the 90th Academy Awards in the Live Action Short Film category. Wave tells the story of Gasper Rubicon, who wakes from a coma speaking a fully formed but unrecognizable language. Cleary’s 2015 short, Stutterer won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short at the 88th Academy Awards. The winner of the Grand Prix International Short Award, Mahdi Fleifel’s A Drowning Man (Denmark, Greece, UK), will also automatically qualify for the Academy Awards longlist. Speaking at the Awards Ceremony, Cork Film Festival Producer and CEO Fiona Clark said: “Wave is a very deserving winner, and is a worthy inclusion on the Academy Awards’ longlist. The quality of shorts within this year’s Festival program has been exceptional, highlighting creativity and diversity in both subject matter and form. The Shorts Jury, chaired by BAFTA nominated producer Farah Abushwesha, also selected Linda Curtin’s Everything Alive is in Movement, as the winner of the Best Cork Short, while Best Documentary Short went to Mia Mullarkey’s Mother & Baby, a documentary on survivors of the Tuam mother and baby home, which had its world premiere as part of the Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board World Premiere Shorts program. Other prize winners include Untitled directed by Michael Glawogger and Monika Will, which won the Gradam Na Féile Do Scannáin Faisnéise / Award for Cinematic Documentary. The film was created two years after the sudden death of Michael Glawogger by editor Monika Willi who took footage produced during Michael’s filming in the Balkans, Italy, and Northwest and West Africa. The Gradam Spiorad Na Féile / Spirit of The Festival Award went to Rima Das’ Village Rockstars. It follows a young village girl in northeast India who wants to start her own rock band. An honorable mention went to Dafydd Flynn for his performance in Frank Berry’s Michael Inside. The Cork Film Festival Nomination for the 2018 European Short Film Awards was Sebastian Lang’s Container. The Audience Award was won by Frank Berry’s acclaimed Michael Inside, telling the story of an 18-year-old living in Dublin who is sentenced to three months in prison after he is caught hiding drugs for his friend’s older brother. The Cork Film Festival Youth Jury Award went to Last Man in Aleppo, directed by Feras Fayyad. The film allows the viewers to experience the rescue work of Syrian volunteers, The White Helmets. Ms Clark added: “This year audiences had an opportunity to see 115 features, 34 documentaries and 116 shorts. For the majority of the films shown, this was the only chance to see them on the big screen in Cork.” The Cork Film Festival will return for its 63rd edition in November 2018.
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French Political Drama THIS IS OUR LAND (Chez Nous) Gets U.S. Release Date | TRAILER

This Is Our Land, Lucas Delvaux’s movie about a fictional far-right party in France will be released in the U.S. by Distrib Films. The film sparked a controversy during this year’s presidential election in France. The movie portrays a charismatic thirty something single mother (Emilie Dequenne) who gets “hired” by the far-right party to become its representative in an underprivileged town in Northern France. The film sparked uproar within the real-life National Front party. One of France’s rare movies examining homegrown populism and the country’s own brand of far-right politics. François Scippa-Kohn, president of Distrib Films US, said the film was a fiction very closely inspired by the last electoral French campaign that saw right wing leader Marine Le Pen reach a peak in polls. “We’re thrilled to be working on this movie which has a particular take on society’s illnesses and dangerous passion for extremism. Lucas Belvaux has always been a very singular and powerful voice for political cinema, mixing genres and expressing his views thanks to very strong cinematic skills,” added Scippa-Kohn. “This Is Our Land” will be opening in New York on April 18, followed by other major U.S. markets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyaDwWXeR8M
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Greenwich Entertainment to Release Matt Tyrnauer’s Documentary SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD

Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD which premiered to strong reviews and sold-out crowds at the Toronto International Film Festival in September will be released theatrically in April of 2018 by recently formed NYC-based distributor Greenwich Entertainment. Best known for his acclaimed films VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR and CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY, Tyrnauer’s latest film tells the story of Scotty Bowers, a World War II Marine combat veteran who became a legendary bi-sexual male hustler and all-purpose date-arranger for Hollywood movie stars from the 1940’s through the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s. The film has been called “the juiciest documentary in years” (Vulture), “criminally entertaining” (Vanity Fair ), and a “resonant and funny portrait of a larger-than-life character” (The Film Stage). At the age of 89, Bowers’ 2012 tell-all biography “Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars” (Grove Press) was a best-selling sensation, and offered a powerful counter-narrative of Hollywood, as well as a revised view of the intimate lives of many of the greatest names of Hollywood’s Golden Age. The cinema verite feature film contains a nuanced portrait of the now 94-year-old Bowers, and also contains fresh revelations, and a trove of newly discovered archival footage and photos of Bowers from the 40s, 50s and beyond. The film documents how Bowers became a confidante, aide de camp and lover to many of Hollywood’s greatest male–and female—stars. Out of a gas station in the shadow of the studio lots, he began connecting his band of friends from the military with those who had to hide their often complex true sexual identities from the public in the pre-Stonewall era. Prepare yourself for a different take on Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and many more icons from the Hollywood Golden Age. Bowers, with the vigor of someone decades younger is an unparalleled raconteur. Tyrnauer’s camera follows him over several months as he meets up with old colleagues—some of them from his L.A. Confidential-esque gas stations days–who corroborate his picaresque tales. “Scotty is a classic American type: fun, happy-go-lucky, eager to please, big-hearted and literally up for anything – a “greatest generation” guy who was also perhaps was one of the great sexual athletes of his day. Matt captures the still-spry, and now 94-year-old Scotty brilliantly and uses his story as a jumping off place to evoke a secret bygone Hollywood and the pressure on that era’s film stars to conform publicly, at least, to the unvarying standard of monogamous heterosexuality,” said Greenwich co-managing director Ed Arentz. “We’re thrilled to have it as one of our inaugural releases.” Tyrnauer, also a journalist (former editor-at-large of Vanity Fair) long heard about Bowers and his gas station in the course of reporting stores about the hidden history of Los Angeles. Eventually, he discovered that the elusive Scotty was still alive and living in Laurel Canyon. “From the moment I met Scotty, I felt he was one of the most extraordinary characters I’d ever come across. He’s one of the last living links to a very different time in Hollywood—and the rest of the world–when same-sexuality was an unmentionable taboo, punishable by prison sentences. Scotty allowed people to live more authentic lives by arranging liaisons for people who, by great necessity, had to hide their true identities to shield themselves from dire consequences,” Tyrnauer said. “I’m really looking forward to collaborating with Ed and the team at Greenwich Entertainment to share Scotty’s story and get this film seen by audiences across North America.” SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, recently had its international premiere at the Rome Film Festival, and its U.S. premiere Saturday at DOC NYC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FExFEVQyAw
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26 Animated Feature Films Submitted for 90th Academy Awards

[caption id="attachment_24262" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Loving Vincent[/caption] Twenty-six features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 90th Academy Awards. Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood. The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are: The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales Birdboy: The Forgotten Children The Boss Baby The Breadwinner Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie Cars 3 Cinderella the Cat Coco Despicable Me 3 The Emoji Movie Ethel & Ernest Ferdinand The Girl without Hands In This Corner of the World The Lego Batman Movie The Lego Ninjago Movie Loving Vincent Mary and the Witch’s Flower Moomins and the Winter Wonderland My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea Napping Princess A Silent Voice Smurfs: The Lost Village The Star Sword Art Online: The Movie – Ordinal Scale Window Horses The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming
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Sundance Selects will Release Rachel Dretzin’s Documentary FAR FROM THE TREE

Ahead of its world premiere today, November 10, at DOC NYC, Sundance Selects has acquired Rachel Dretzin’s documentary Far From the Tree, for a theatrical release in Summer 2018. Based on the award-winning book by acclaimed author Andrew Solomon, Far From the Tree is an inspiring look at the difficulties and rewards of both raising and being a child whose life is vastly different from that of his or her parents. Directed and produced by Emmy®Award-winner Dretzin, the film follows several families as they cope with the challenges presented by Down syndrome, dwarfism, autism and even having a child in prison. The film shares their intimate stories with touching candor, and in doing so reveals basic truths about all parents and all children, truths of acceptance and love that feel especially urgent at this historic moment. Solomon commented on the news, saying: “I was delighted to find in Rachel Dretzin a filmmaker who could translate my book into a gorgeous and compelling film, and now I’m thrilled that the film has found in Sundance Selects a distributor who shares our vision. This will be the perfect path for this deeply moving film to meet its audience.” Dretzin added: “Sundance Selects has a fantastic track record and their plans for the film are very much in sync with what we had hoped for. It’s a delight and an honor to have them on board.” “Far From the Tree is an inspiring and irresistibly moving journey into the differences that make us who we are. It builds on Andrew Solomon’s landmark book to paint a complex and universal portrait of acceptance with an empathy and scale that only true cinema can do,” said Jonathan Sehring and Lisa Schwartz, co-Presidents of Sundance Selects/IFC Films.
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