Here Media has acquired U.S. distribution rights from international sales agent REZO. "I Killed My Mother" ("J'ai tué ma mère") was written, produced and directed by 20-year old Xavier Dolan making his feature film directorial debut. The film swept the 41st Directors' Fortnight section at this year's Cannes Film Festival collecting 3 of the 4 main awards including the Prix Regards Jeunes 2009, the Art Cinema Award, and the SACD Prize. The film stars Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval ("Le Coeur a Ses Raisons"), Suzanne Cle'mont ("L'audition"), Francois Arnaud and Monique Spaziani ("Les Portes Tournantes"). 
Here Media has acquired U.S. distribution rights from Celluloid Dreams for "The Magic Flute," an English language made-for-cinema film adaptation of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" co-written and directed by acclaimed director/actor, Kenneth Branagh. Stephen Fry co-wrote the film with Branagh and did the English libretto translation. As a writer, director and actor Branagh claimed three Academy Award® nominations for his work on the 1990 "Henry V" and the 1997 "Hamlet." "The Magic Flute" was produced by Pierre-Olivier Bardet and executive produced by the Peter Moores Foundation, which encourages the creation of new work and strives to attract new audiences to opera. Acclaimed musical director James Conlon, who was awarded France's Legion d'Honneur in 2001, conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for the film. "The Magic Flute" stars Joseph Kaiser (Tamino), Amy Carson (Pamina), Benjamin Jay Davis (Papageno), Silvia Moi (Papagena), Rene Pape (Sarastro) and Lyubov Petrova (Queen of the Night).
Here Media has acquired North American distribution rights from Dreamlab to "About Elly" (Darbareye Elly), directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani as Sepideh. "About Elly" centers around a group of middle-class Iranians who drive to the shores of the Caspian Sea for a short break from Tehran. The film has won numerous festival awards including the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 59th Berlin Film Festival, the Best Narrative Feature at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and the Crystal Symorgh for best directing at the 27th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran. “Captures the charm of A Prairie Home Companion
and its creator” – Variety
GARRISON KEILLOR:
THE MAN ON THE RADIO
IN THE RED SHOES
New York, NY June XX, 2009 – America ’s foremost humorist and commentator, Garrison Keillor takes his skits and monologues across the country in America ’s most popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. The acclaimed feature film GARRISON KEILLOR: THE MAN ON THE RADIO IN THE RED SHOES trails this yarn-smith and his crew of actors and musicians as they spin stories and song into American gold. Following a nationwide premiere on Thirteen’s American Masters on PBS on July 1, Docurama Films brings this candid look at the private man in the public spotlight to DVD—along with over an hour of exclusive bonus material—on July 7, 2009 .
Filmed over the course of more than a year, this intimate portrait captures Keillor on- and off-stage as he mingles fact and fiction to create America’s collective hometown, Lake Wobegon, on his radio program. The result is a fascinating inside look at the enigmatic raconteur and how the imaginary world he created became a real place in America. Author of more than 20 books as well as a syndicated weekly column, Keillor is credited with reviving the lost art of live radio entertainment in America; his weekly radio show, celebrating its 35th anniversary this July, has more than 4 million listeners and is broadcast on 590 stations. Robert Altman’s 2006 film starring Meryl Streep, A Prairie Home Companion, brought Keillor and his characters to the big screen.
“His writing is never from an elevated space, so he connects with his audience,” said Peabody, DGA and Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker Peter Rosen (Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Here to Make Music and Who Gets to Call It Art?). “But the production value of his show is highly elevated, and the novelty for viewers of this film will be to see how the magic happens.”
Keillor mixes storytelling and humor to give us a lighthearted but deeply felt reflection of ourselves. While he’s been compared to such legends as Mark Twain and Will Rogers, Garrison Keillor is unique. In this unusual biography, we begin to see how and why.
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OVER AN HOUR OF EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATERIAL INCLUDES:
· Outtakes
· Garrison Keillor Talks to Students
· Interview with Robert Altman and Garrison Keillor
· Filmmaker Biography
To view the trailer: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/garrison-keillor/the-man-on-the-radio-in-the-red-shoes/1159/
About Peter Rosen – Producer/Director
Peter Rosen has produced and directed over 100 full-length films and television programs which have been distributed worldwide and have won awards at the major film festivals. He has worked directly with some of the most important figures in the arts such as Leonard Bernstein, Yo Yo Ma, Beverly Sills, Sherrill Milnes, Stephen Sondheim, Alexander Godunov, Midori, Martha Graham, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Van Cliburn, Claudio Arrau, I. M. Pei, and Garrison Keillor. He won the prestigious Directors Guild of America Award for his production Here to Make Music: The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The show also won a primetime national Emmy Award. He was again nominated for the DGA Award for his film First Person Singular: I. M. Pei. He won the Peabody Award for Playing on the Edge: The Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
“JAW-DROPPINGLY FASCINATING –DISTURBING, HILARIOUS, TERRIFYING…A”
– Entertainment Weekly
NURSERY UNIVERSITY
Getting In Is No Longer Child’s Play
“FUNNY & AMAZING!” – Jeffrey Lyons
New York, NY June XX, 2009 – In communities across the country, competition for admission into the best schools is starting very early...as in preschool. The acclaimed feature documentary NURSERY UNIVERSITY is the only film to gain access to this cultural phenomenon, revealing with humor and humanity the surprisingly elaborate process of applications, anxious parent-toddler interviews, placement lotteries and pricey consultants. Cue the tears, hysterics and breakdowns—and that’s just the parents. Docurama Films is proud to bring this highly entertaining and informative film—sure to become every parent’s scholastic starter guide—to DVD on July 7, 2009.
Following screenings at the Hot Docs, Hamptons International and Margaret Mead Film Festivals, NURSERY UNIVERSITY premiered theatrically to the highest national per-screen average earning in its opening weekend this past April. The film’s broadcast premiere on Showtime followed with rave reviews on May 11, 2009.
Hailed by Variety as “SPELLBOUND IN TRAINING PANTS,” and “EPIC…EQUAL PARTS SESAME STREET AND GLADIATOR” by the New York Post, NURSERY UNIVERSITY is set in New York City, the epicenter of the preschool scramble, where a post-9/11 baby boom has led to 15-20 toddler applicants for each available spot at the best nursery schools. The film follows five Manhattan families during the year-long contest—which officially commences the day after Labor Day with a speed-dial “phone-a-thon” for applications—and also gains access into the school admissions departments themselves to reveal the behind-the-scenes antics of this outrageous private school realm. What starts as a race to get their children into the “right” mini-Ivy turns into a reality check for parents when unexpected hiccups arrive that expose both the absurdity of the process and genuine anxiety for those wanting the best for their kids.
Packed with bonus features including unseen footage and film festival Q&As with the parents and admission experts, the DVD offers both an instructive and highly amusing look at the madness of it all, and also includes bonus footage with advice for those who may find themselves faced with this challenging process for their own little darlings soon.
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EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATERIAL INCLUDES:
· Tips from the Experts: Advice for Getting Into Nursery School
· Audio Commentary with the Filmmakers
· Q&As with the Parents, Admissions Officers, and Filmmakers
· Hilarious Deleted Scenes
· Trailer
· Filmmaker Biographies
About Marc H. Simon – Director/Producer/Writer
Marc H. Simon conceived, wrote and produced After Innocence, which won the Special Jury Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, before going on to receive other numerous recognitions, including its selection as a semifinalist for Best Feature Documentary at the 78th Academy Awards®. Nursery University is Simon’s feature directorial debut. Simon is also an entertainment attorney and partner at the law firm of Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP in New York City where his practice focuses in all matters of entertainment law with emphasis in the areas of independent film finance and production and television. He also has worked as a special legal correspondent and producer for Fox Television's A Current Affair.
TUNNEL RATS
“ASTONISHING”
-COMBUSTIBLECELLULOID.COM
FIRST FEATURE FILM SET IN CU CHI TUNNELS ARRIVING ON DVD June 30, 2009
Universal City, CA, May 14, 2009 – From controversial director Uwe Boll comes a film that takes you beyond the battle lines. The year is 1967. American troops are making their way through the jungle of the Cu Chi District of Vietnam. A special US combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam . Tunnel Rats is a stunning, no holds barred journey into the darkest chapter of the Vietnam War.
Never before has a film featured a story about the tunnels beneath the jungle of Vietnam . Tunnel Rats takes on a fresh look on the Vietnam War and presents a starkly realistic portrayal. LA Weekly hails Tunnel Rats as “Boll’s best film to date”, Efilmcritic calls it “impressively uncompromising” and gives it four stars.
Starring Michael Paré, Tunnel Rats received its US theatrical debut in a prestigious Los Angeles film festival retrospective.
Synopsis:
In Tunnel Rats a special US combat unit is sent on a mission to search and destroy Viet Cong resistance forces in the endless networks of tunnels in the jungles of Vietnam . Armed with only handguns, flashlights and knives the men soon find themselves embroiled in hand- to-hand combat. As the battle moves underground, for both sides, the struggle becomes less about winning than about survival
Visit http://tunnelratsmovie.com/ for more information on the film.
Preorder the DVD on Amazon: http://bit.ly/DVDTunnelRats
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