FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT:           Michael Krause/Foundry Communications

(212) 586-7967/mkrause@foundrycomm.com

            For Screeners: Danielle Hawkes

(212) 586-7967/dhawkes@foundrycomm.com

 

THIS JUNE, DOCURAMA™ INVITES FILM LOVERS EVERYWHERE

TO TAKE PART IN A REVOLUTIONARY HOME ENTERTAINMENT FIRST WITH THE

 

DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I

 

With 10 Astonishing, Unforgettable Films You Won’t Get The Chance To See Anywhere Else, This Industry-First DVD Event Offers Home Audiences A New Way to Experience The Excitement and Enthusiasm of a Film Festival, Anywhere, At Any Time, On DVD

 

Among the 10 Acclaimed Films Selected for the DFF are the Academy Award®-nominated Legacy; Doing Time: Life in the Big House and Sister Rose’s Passion, the Provocative and Powerful Aging Out; The Fire Next Time; The Wobblies and More!

 

 

NEW YORK, NY, March 31, 2006 -- There are over 500 successful film festivals that take place in the U.S. each year, and if you’ve ever been to one you’ll know why. In the era of Hollywood blockbusters and 16-screen megaplexes, film festivals provide the opportunity to see films you’ll never get the chance to see anywhere else. There’s also a unique energy and “buzz” around the films at a festival, and yet so often, this enthusiasm dies when the festival closes its doors, and scores of amazing, ground-breaking films disappear, never to be seen again. Until now. On June 27, Docurama™, the pioneering distributor of documentaries on DVD, proudly unveils an industry-first event: The DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I. 

Created to introduce home audiences to the complete festival experience – from the buzz-worthy, ground-breaking films to the behind-the-scenes “interactivity” -- the DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I offers the opportunity to experience films on an entirely new level.  Because not everyone can get to a film festival, Docurama delivers one direct to living rooms across the county; featuring a selection of 10 award-winning films and a dedicated website, viewers will be able to interact with the festival DVDs like never before!

 

In announcing the first group of films slated to open the DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I, Docurama Head Programmer Liz Ogilvie said, “We are genuinely excited to introduce the Docurama Film Festival I, a new way to experience the excitement and enthusiasm of a festival, and most importantly the films, anywhere, and at any time, on DVD. In particular, the 10 films we have selected to open our very first festival truly embody the festival spirit to the extent that they are a showcase of astonishing, cutting edge, extraordinary films that home audiences might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience.”

 

The 10 films selected for DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I are:

 

Aging Out

With the critically-acclaimed AGING OUT, Academy Award^®-nominee Roger Weisberg and Vanessa Roth chronicle the daunting obstacles that three young people in foster care encounter as they "age out" of the system and are suddenly left to fend for themselves.

 

Broken Rainbow

Narrated by Martin Sheen, this exquisitely shot and scored Academy Award^® winner illustrates the heartbreaking tale of 12,000 Navajos forced to leave their ancestral homeland in order to make way for energy exploration.

 

Doing Time: Life in the Big House

In this Academy Award^®-nominated film, groundbreaking verité filmmakers Alan & Susan Raymond delve deep inside the harrowing and violent Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary—a place where rehabilitation and parole have all but been abandoned.

 

Full Frame 4

The Full Frame Documentary Shorts Collection: Volume 4 presents a fascinating new collection of the best short docs from the preeminent documentary film festival in North America.

 

Legacy

This riveting Academy Award^®-nominated film tells the inspirational story of one exceptional family who triumph against the odds to ascend from the grips of extreme poverty.

 

Sister Rose’s Passion

A feisty nun takes on anti-Semitism and Mel Gibson in this Academy Award^®-nominated film that chronicles a Dominican Sister's lifelong quest to reform the Roman Catholic Church's centuries-old position on Jesus and the Jews.

 

The Fire Next Time

This emotionally charged film follows a deeply divided Montana town as they are caught up in a web of conflicts intensified by environmental issues, rapid growth and the power of radio.

 

Omar & Pete

From Academy Award^®-nominated filmmaker Tod Lending comes this gritty and honest portrait of two long-term offenders and the challenges they face living life on the outside after spending much of their lives in prison.

 

The Police Tapes

In the spirit of seminal 1970s films like Mean Streets and Serpico, Academy Award^®-winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond ride shotgun with police to document a city in chaos—resulting in a real-life time capsule of cops struggling to keep a community from unraveling amidst an overwhelming tide of crime.

 

The Wobblies

This provocative and dramatic film classic by award-winning filmmakers Deborah Schaffer and Stewart Bird illuminates the turbulent history of the largest radical union in US history.

 

 

All DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I titles will be released on June 27 as individual DVDs, packaged separately, and priced to collect from $26.95srp ea.  Festival “attendees” will then have the ability to build their own festival experience, selecting the films to which they’re most drawn.  However, film lovers and documentary aficionados interested in experiencing all the films will be able to purchase the full slate, in an exclusive Platinum package containing all 10 films and the informative DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I catalog for a discounted price of $229.95 -- a savings of 15% off the suggested retail price! 

 

Festival attendees will further have the ability to immerse themselves in this unique DVD experience by visiting and interacting with the dedicated website docuramafilmfestival.com, the home for all things festival-related.  Contributing to the depth and breadth of the viewing experience will be film trailers and clips; filmmaker q&a’s; descriptions of all the films and filmmaker biographies; an interactive “buzz blog,” allowing for comments and open discussions of all the films in the festival; podcast interviews with the filmmakers (scheduled to air live the week of June 27), and more!

 

There’s a great energy and excitement that comes with knowing that you’re among the first to see something the rest of the world hasn’t seen.  Re-imagining the way that home audiences have access to – and interact with -- films, the DOCURAMA FILM FESTIVAL I opens doors that have to be cracked, creating and innovating an entertaining world of possibilities to explore!

 

About Docurama®

Founded in 1999 by parent company New Video Group Inc., Docurama is the only label dedicated exclusively to bringing critically acclaimed and cutting-edge documentary films to the home entertainment marketplace. Since its launch, Docurama has released over 150 award-winning and highly acclaimed documentary titles including DA Pennebaker’s Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back, The Brandon Teena Story, Southern Comfort, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, Andy Goldsworthy’s Rivers and Tides Working With Time, both seasons of Michael Moore’s hit television series The Awful Truth, and, most recently, the 2005 theatrical sleeper hit The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.  Docurama’s impressive collection of Academy Award^® winners and nominees includes Murder on a Sunday Morning, The Weather Underground, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, Regret To Inform, Children Underground, and Sound and Fury. In partnership with the Independent Film Channel (IFC) Docurama has released numerous acclaimed documentaries and theatrical hits including Lost in La Mancha, Go Tigers!, Keep the River on Your Right, A Decade Under the Influence, and Brother’s Keeper. In 2004, Docurama partnered with P.O.V., PBS’ premiere documentary series, to release their critically-acclaimed documentaries on DVD. These include the 2003 theatrical doc Lost Boys of Sudan, and the recent Sundance Special Jury Prize winner Farmingville. In 2005, Docurama and Sundance Channel joined forces to launch the Sundance Channel Home Entertainment Documentary Collection, culled from some of the strongest documentary titles to air on Sundance Channel, including both original productions and acquisitions. Recent releases include the widely acclaimed documentary series The Staircase, and The First Amendment Project, featuring documentary works by Mario Van Peebles and Chris Hegedus.  New Video is also the exclusive label and distributor for the A&E Home Video lines, including The History Channel® and Biography®. To order these or any Docurama products, please call 1-800-314-8822 or visit www.newvideo.com.

 

#   #   #