The Brink, Director Alison Klayman

When Steve Bannon left his position as White House chief strategist less than a week after the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017, he was already a notorious figure in Trump’s inner circle, and for bringing a far-right ideology into the highest echelons of American politics. Unconstrained by an official post – though some say he still has a direct line to the White House – he became free to peddle influence as a perceived kingmaker, turning his controversial brand of nationalism into a global movement. Alison Klayman’s THE BRINK follows Bannon through the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States, shedding light on his efforts to mobilize and unify far-right parties in order to win seats in the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections. To maintain his power and influence, the former Goldman Sachs banker and media investor reinvents himself – as he has many times before – this time as the self-appointed leader of a global populist movement. Keen manipulator of the press and gifted self-promoter, Bannon continues to draw headlines and protests wherever he goes, feeding the powerful myth on which his survival relies. Director and Cinematographer Alison Klayman (Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry, On Her Shoulders) joins us for a conversation on gaining access and the confidence of a man who has maneuvered his way into the darkest corners of white-wing global brinksmanship.

 

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For news and updates go to: thebrinkfilm.com

For more information on Alison Klayman go to: alisonklayman.com/the-brink

Social Media

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twitter.com/TheBrinkFilm

instagram.com/thebrinkfilm

“STARTLING.” Steven Zeitchik, Washington Post.

“GRIPPING.” Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times.

“A MUST SEE.” Manohla Dargis, New York Times.

“The Brink” is an impeccably crafted verité ramble – an engaging and enraging, disturbing and highly revealing movie…” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“What makes The Brink so different from just another platform for this professional troll? Though Klayman sticks to a largely vérité approach of following her subject around and observing his various interactions, she also provides important context.” – Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine / Vulture

Tre Maison Dasan, Director Denali Tiller

TRE MAISON DASAN is told directly through the eyes of the children themselves, Tre Maison Dasan is a moving portrait of three unforgettable young boys struggling to grow up with a parent in prison. They face the pressure of growing up in a society that often demonizes their parents, provides little support for their families, and assumes “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Society writes them off as criminals, but in their hearts their children still see them as mom and dad. Tre is a charismatic but troubled 13-year-old who hides his emotions behind a mask of tough talk and hard edges. Maison is a funny, charming, hyper-articulate 11-year-old whose Autism Spectrum Disorder presents itself through his ever-active mind and deep love for those around him. Dasan, the youngest of the boys, is a shy and sensitive six-year-old full of curiosity and empathy. Although their parents are incarcerated for serious crimes, the strong and caring relationships they maintain with their kids shatter stereotypes about those behind bars and remind us of the plight of the over 1.7 million American children growing up with an incarcerated parent. Denali Tiller is an artist and filmmaker. Following her work directing and producing TRE MAISON DASAN, Tiller is working on a large-scale, multi-sectoral impact campaign for the film, engaging communities affected by incarceration across the US and in Europe. In 2015, Denali was named one of 10 “Filmmakers to Watch” by Variety. As a director, Tiller is passionate about exploring new perspectives on systemic issues, empowering youth and women, and how we raise boys in America. Director Denali Tiller joins us for an engaging conversation on the implications of incarceration that go far beyond a prisoners time behind bars and into the deeper impacts it has on their family, community and civil society.

 

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For news and updates go to: pbs.org/independentlens/films/tre-maison-dasan

For more on the work of Denali Tiller go to: tremaisondasan.com

Social Media:

facebook.com/TreMaisonDasan

twitter.com/tremaisondasan

Rhode Island International Film FestivalGrand Prize

London Raindance Film Festival Best Documentary Feature

Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young PeopleYouth Jury Award for Best Film and Best Direction

Heartland International Film FestivalGrand Prize (Nominee)

“It’s a remarkable film, powerful in its emotional content and profound in its criticism of a system that sets the next generation up for failure.” – Christopher Llewellyn. Hammer to Nail

“A gripping look at children wounded by their parents’ crimes.” – Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter

“Nonfiction filmmaking doesn’t get much better than this.” Chris Reed, Film Festival Today

The Boy Band Con, Director Aaron Kunkel

THE BOY BAND CON: THE LOU PEARLMAN STORY is a documentary feature that tells the story of famed boy band impresario Lou Pearlman. The film tracks his life from his childhood in Queens, New York through discovering mega-bands *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, and chronicles his later life, including his perpetration of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history. This is the first time this story has ever been told from the perspective of the people involved: from the boy band members themselves, and the Ponzi scheme investors to Lou’s childhood friends. Interview subjects include artists Lance Bass, JC Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick (*NSYNC); AJ McLean (Backstreet Boys); and Aaron Carter and Ashley Parker Angel (O-Town). Director, editor and cinematographer Aaron Kunkel (Charlie and the Ghost, The Moment) joins us to talk about an all-too-familiar tale of deception perpetrated by a trusted, likable and conflicted con artist.

“The Boy Band Con, The Lou Pearlman Story is a film wrought with both truth and lies, and Lance and I, and the whole team at Pilgrim, really took to heart uncovering what was real story amongst all the rumors, half-truths and full-blown falsehoods. Lou wove a tangled web. As Johnny Wright, the former manager of Backstreet and *NSYNC says, Lou was like a tabloid: there’s 10 percent of truth to what he says, and the rest is Lou taking it where he wants. We’re living in a time when truth and lies seem to blur together more and more and I wanted to examine the differences between them, while also exploring why they’re becoming – and in a lot of ways may always have been – difficult to tell apart.” – Director Aaron Kunkel

 

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For news and updates go to: The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story

Los Angeles – Arclight Sherman Oaks from Wednesday, March 27th through Tuesday, April 2nd.

New York – AMC 34th Street 14 from Friday, March 29th through Thursday April 4th.

Social Media:

twitter.com/Pilgrim_Studios

facebook.com/PilgrimMediaGroup

100% on Rotten Tomatoes

“It may be an all-too-familiar refrain – trusted music manager rips off his clients – but “The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story” sets it in the broader, more intriguing context of the age-old pursuit of those twin trappings, fame and fortune.” – Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times

“Told in jaw-dropping fashion, the The Lou Pearlman Story follows the famed musical talent scout…to the Harvey Weinstein/Bernie Madoff figure he would ultimately become.” – Robert Daniels, ThatShelf.com

“As Kunkel structures the doc, it’s like “Here’s this guy who nobody completely understands, now let’s go back in time and … nobody understood him then, either.” I prefer that to cheap and specious psychoanalyzing.” – Dan Feinberg, Hollywood Reporter

“The Boy Band Con’s most remarkable feat is showing how Pearlman’s two crowning achievements were merely cogs in the vast machinery of his deception.” – Bryan Rolli, The Daily Dot

American Relapse, Co-directors Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt

AMERICAN RELAPSE tells the story of two people fighting to make a difference against the devastating heroin epidemic that’s spawning a billion-dollar treatment industry. Against the odds, in an “Us vs. the World” mentality, two recovering addicts spend their lives pulling needles out of the arms of addicts and assist in placing them in reputable treatment facilities.  The film features Frankie and Allie who live and work in Delray Beach, Florida, the Rehab Capital of America, now referred to by some as the Relapse Capital of America. They allowed the film crew all access for one weekend. What transpires over 72 hours is not only captivating and raw, but a heart-breaking rollercoaster ride. Frankie is 38 and has relapsed multiple times but continues to operate his F*ck Heroin Foundation with his mother. Allie is 28 and has been clean and sober for 10 years. While they are at different points on the recovery spectrum, they both share a deep belief in the 12th step: helping others.  These unlikely and imperfect heroes opened their lives for the world to see, hoping to shine a light anywhere and any way they can. In the process, they show viewers and addicts alike that despite seemingly impossible odds and devastating damage, empathy and hope can restore a little bit of humanity to those who struggle and can sometimes save their lives. Co-directors Pat McGee (Dopesick Nation, The Deported) and Adam Linkenhelt (24 to Life) join us to talk about their raw, honest film and South Florida’s heroin epidemic and the revolving door of the for-profit rehab industry.

 

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For news and updates go to: americanrelapse.com

Social Media

facebook.com/americanrelapse

instagram.com/american_relapse

Twitter:

@American_Relapse

@dopesicknation

@allieseverino_

@fuccheroin

“How the revolving door of drug rehabilitation became big business.” – Louis Proyect, counterpunch.org

“Eye-opening and damning.” – Roger Moore, Movie Nation

“Captures the recurring nightmare of substance abuse, which makes enduring the unthinkable (homelessness, prostitution, crime, death) an inevitable facet of one’s day-to-day.” – Nick Schager, Variety

Billboard, Director Zeke Zelker

In BILLBOARD Casey Lindeweiler (John Robinson) inherits WTYT 960 from his legendary radioman father only to discover that it’s on the brink of financial collapse. To right the sinking ship, Casey pulls out the oldest trick in radio, the wacky contest. His grand plan is to host a billboard sitting contest where four people will live on a catwalk in front of a billboard for the chance of winning a mobile home and “nine-sixty thousand” dollars. Unprepared for the spotlight, Casey rises to the challenge of running a business but is faced with relentless attacks from his competition (Eric Roberts), the local authorities, the media, and mother nature herself. Casey struggles to keep his father’s legacy alive while fighting to stay independent.  BILLBOARD is inspired by an actual billboard-sitting contest Zelker recalls from his youth. BILLBOARD, which stars: John  Robinson (Elephant, Lords of Dogtown). Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse, The Princess Diaries), Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Grey’s Anatomy), Leo Fitzpatrick (Kids, Bully), Darlene  Cates  (What’s Eating Gilbert Grapes, Picket Fences), and Oakes Fegley (Pete’s Dragon, This is Where I Leave You). A long-time pioneer in what has been called “transmedia” entertainment, Zelker is committed to changing the face of film. The “Billboard cine•experience,” tells variations of its story in different ways per medium, which is something unique and not yet fully embraced by the mainstream movie industry. Zelker  explores multiple sides of the narrative and is unafraid to push traditional boundary lines between truth and fiction; all while enabling audiences to become a part of the story. The innovative filmmaker Zeke Zelker joins us to talk about his approach to creating an entire cinematic eco-system and why it is so important for filmmakers to seek out new ways of engaging an audience.

 

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For news and updates go to: billboardmovie.com   Or to keep track of WTYT 960        

Social Media

facebook.com/BillboardMovie

instagram.com/billboardmovie

Dragged Across Concrete, Director S. Craig Zahler

DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE tells the tale of two policemen, one an old-timer, Ridgemen, (Mel Gibson), the other his volatile younger partner, Anthony, (Vince Vaughn), who find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics become the media’s cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows. What bad things will good men do for their families? In the hardboiled world of DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE, who lives, who dies, and who gets rich is a fate written in bullets. Director S. Craig Zahler stops to talk about his stylishly brutal, modern day film noir and his determination to tell this story on his own terms.

 

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For news and updates go to: Lionsgate.com / Dragged Across Concrete

Social Media:

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twitter.com/lgpremiere

instagram.com/lionsgatepremiere

“S. Craig Zahler’s latest film is a true master stroke in filmmaking. It is elegantly slow, contained, precise and notably beautifully framed throughout.” – Ben Ralph, Discussing Film

“Anchored by three brilliant central performances, Dragged Across Concrete is an interesting, unpredictable movie that presents two plots that feel like we’ve seen them before and then zigs when we expect it to zag.” – Sean Fallon, Film Inquiry

“S. Craig Zahler is a singular voice in cinema, one who is willing to take pulp concepts and craft them into unflinchingly violent features.” – Niall Browne, Movies in Focus

“Few filmmakers come to mind who could orchestrate these slow-burning set pieces with such precision; it’s like watching a chess game in which everyone thinks they’re a king but most of them are pawns” – Michael Nordine, IndieWire

The Long Shadow, Director Frances Causey

Of all the divisions in America, none is as insidious and destructive as racism. The powerful documentary THE LONG SHADOW takes a shockingly candid look at America’s original sin – slavery — and traces the history of slavery from the country’s founding, up through its insidious ties to racism today. We witness from the moment of America’s birth, how slavery was embedded in principal structural elements of society, and yet, even as slavery ended, these systems still operate today in various forms, carrying out their original purpose – to diminish the social role of black people and keep them in a perpetual state of suffering. Director Frances Causey and Producer Sally Holst, both privileged daughters of the South, were haunted by their families’ slave-owning pasts. They grew up in a time when white superiority was rarely questioned, and challenging this norm was often met with deadly consequences. Rejecting the oft-told romanticized version of early U.S. history, they embarked on a journey of hidden truths and the untold stories of how America – driven by the South’s powerful political influence – steadily, deliberately and with great stealth,  established white privilege in our institutions, laws, culture and economy. From New Orleans to Virginia, Mississippi and Canada, they traveled the roads of oppression, suppression, and even hope to reveal the direct link from early slavery, Jim Crow and strong-arm Southern politics to the current racial strife and division we face today. Director and Frances Causey is an Emmy-award winning journalist and documentary filmmaker who began her career with CNN. Her 2012 documentary feature, “Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and is currently seen in over 50 countries. Causey was honored with the Women’s International Film and Television Jury Award for her work on Heist. Frances Causey joins us to talk about the stain of slavery and the legacy of racism that continues to torment the American Promise.

 

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For news and updates go to: thelongshadowfilm.com

Host a screening at: thelongshadowfilm.com/host-a-screening

Social Media:

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twitter@LongShadowDoc

Instagram@thelongshadowfilm

“The Long Shadow is a moving personal and informative history of anti-Black racism in the US packed with revealing details and analysis and leading us towards understanding, healing, and commitment to work for racial justice. A must see for white people concerned about racial equity and social justice.” ~ Paul Kivel, Co-founder, Showing Up for Racial Justice

“The Long Shadow is a gripping personalized history lesson, with Causey covering salient points, including how economics drove the despicable trading of humans. Her of-the-moment feature couldn’t be more necessary.” ~ Randy Myers, Mercury News

“If you want to know the true hidden history of the evil that slavery cast over America, and how it continues to this day, you must watch this movie.” ~ Thom Hartmann, The Thom Hartmann Show

The Cradle of Champions- Director Bartle Bull

The most awarded “dream team” of documentary talent in decades CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS captures the epic story of three young people fighting for their lives in the oldest, biggest, most important amateur boxing tournament in the world: New York’s Daily News Golden Gloves. CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS follows three extraordinary, inspiring individuals—James Wilkins, Nisa Rodriguez, and Titus Williams—on an urban odyssey through a ten-week tournament, founded in 1927, that has produced more professional world champions than the Olympic Games. Telling a compelling story of dreams, heartbreak, and redemption, the result is a unique work of art. CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS is edge-of-the-seat drama with the polish of a Hollywood feature film and the intimacy of a gritty cinéma vérité classic.CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS Director Bartle Bull is a noted author and journalist who has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times. He joins us for a conversation on his desire to document an iconic sporting event that is teetering on the edge of extinction and the community that continues to support it.

 

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Cradle of Champions Dream Team:

Director of Photography, TOM HURWITZ ASC, – (Valentino: The Last Emperor, Queen of Versailles)

KIRSTEN JOHNSON – (Citizenfour, Cameraperson)

MATT PORWOLL – (Cartel Land )

WOLFGANG WELD – (Escape Fire: The Fight to Save American Health Care, Carrier)

NADIA HELLGREN – (Trapped, Searching for Sugarman, Fahrenheit 11/9)

Editor MICHAEL LEVINE – (Restrepo, Central Park Five, Billy the Kid)

Producer MAIKEN BAIRD – (Icarus, City of Ghosts, Client 9: The Trial of Eliot Spitzer)

Executive Producer DONALD ROSENFELD – (Tree of Life, Jodorowsky’s Dune)

For news and updates go to: cradleofchampionsfilm.com

“A new standard for character-driven narrative documentary… the excitement, the powerful story arc, and the unforgettable characters one expects from a first rate fiction film.”Santa Barbara Independent

Edge-of-the-seat drama with the polish of a Hollywood feature and the intimacy of a cinéma vérité classic.WeAreMovieGeeks.com

CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS wins Best Feature award at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, capturing “real life… with cinematic beauty”The Missoulian

Combat Obscura, Director Miles Lagoze

Just out of high school, at the age of 18, Miles Lagoze enlisted in the Marine Corps. Lagoze was deployed to Afghanistan where he served as Combat Camera — his unit’s official videographer, tasked with shooting and editing footage for the Corps’ recruiting purposes and historical initiatives. But upon discharging, Lagoze took all the footage he and his fellow cameramen shot, and he assembled quite simply the very documentary the Corps does not want you to see. COMBAT OBSCURA is a groundbreaking look at daily life in a war zone as told by the Marines themselves. More than a mere compilation of violence, the edit ingeniously repurposes the original footage to reveal the intensity and paradoxes of an ambiguous war from an unvarnished perspective. Director Miles Lagoze joins us to talk about his deployment in America’s longest war, adapting to a whipsaw life of boredom, camaraderie and death and training to become a filmmaker via the United States Marine Corp.

 

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For news and updates go to: combatobscura.oscilloscope.net

Social Media:

facebook.com/oscopelabs

twitter.com/oscopelabs

instagram.com/oscopelabs

“The beauty of the film is its realness. All the footage is taken directly from his camera. Lagoze went on to compile all the events he felt were representative of his experience. He shows the gun fights, the cursing, the shouting, the laughter, the fear and the hostility of the men in the war. Nothing is withheld.”Jessica Duffield, VOX MAGAZINE

“War is not fought but lived, and this is as close to first-person as one can get without being there. COMBAT OBSCURA sinks deeper into darkness as it progresses, as the utter pointlessness and futility of America’s presence in Afghanistan overwhelms the troops. While we are initially invited to empathize with the Marines, their jokey comradery gives way to vicious menace. There is no apparent mission, just a loop of injuries and reprisals against an amorphous outside threat. The final two scenes are a despairing diptych. In the first, the men realize they’ve killed an unarmed shopkeeper and plot to cover it up. In the second, one of them is seriously wounded in a firefight and they scramble to get him airlifted to aid. There is no point to any of it, just horror. That is all there is to this war, and no uplifting words will ameliorate it.” – Daniel Schindel, THE FILM STAGE

“This Marine-made war documentary is so raw the corps doesn’t want you to see it. One of most genuine looks at what the Forever War was like for those who waged it.”James Clark, TASK AND PURPOSE

Time for Ilhan, Director Norah Shapiro

The story follows rising political star Ilhan Omar, a proud hijab-wearing, one-time refugee Somali-American mother and community activist, as she seeks to unseat the long time incumbent who served in the legislature for 43 years. Also in the race is an eloquent male Somali activist who challenged but lost to Kahn in 2014. All three candidates run as progressive Democrats. Ilhan Omar’s win means she will become the first Somali-American, Muslim woman to hold state office in the United States, an especially dramatic prospect given the anti-Muslim rhetoric that brewed in the lead up to the 2016 Presidential race. Although the U.S. failed to elect its first female president, one woman still made history. Ilhan Omar’s story will present a counter narrative to the pervasive negative portrayal of both politics and Muslim immigrants and women in America. It will also raise questions about barriers to access to the political process in this country, and offer a refreshing and inspiring example of overcoming them. Director Norah Shapiro joins us for a conversation  about her intimate and invigorating look into the quixotic campaign and the multi-faceted life of a Somali refugee seeking to bring a new voice and perspective into an evolving American paradigm.

 

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For news and updates go to: timeforilhanfilm.com

Host a screening! Go to timeforilhanfilm.com/host

From the Time for Ihan website: Kicking off on International Women’s Day, March 9th, 2019, and continuing through the 2020 elections, we are partnering with grassroots groups, national organizations, and schools and universities to host dynamic screening events that connect audiences with opportunities to take action in their own communities.

Social Media:

facebook.com/TimeforIlhan

twitter.com/TimeforIlhan

instagram.com/timeforilhan

Leaves little doubt about what immigrants, especially diaspora survivors, have historically contributed to our democracy.” – Film Journal

“Although it’s too soon to say what Ilhan Omar’s long-term impact on American politics will be, her very presence represents the infusion of new energy that many believe the Democratic Party has long been in need of. She is now part of a new wave of politicians—and many more who’ve been inspired to run since the election of Donald Trump. And if she truly is the progressive politician Time for Ilhan portrays, maybe we still have a reason to say, ‘I’m with her.’” – The Root

“Observing her life on the electoral trail with remarkable intimacy and access, this rousing documentary offers rare insight into this formidable newcomer’s journey as she takes on a 43-year incumbent and redefines the face of American politics.” – The List

“She is so eloquent and passionate, I have no doubt that her platform will bring her to the world’s attention in the very near future. She is one to watch for.” – Musee Magazine

Finding Steve McQueen, Director Mark Steven Johnson

The story of the United California Bank Robbery is one of the greatest stories never told. Back in 1972, the leader of a small group of safecrackers from Youngstown, Ohio got a tip from Jimmy Hoffa: President Nixon was hiding up to $30 million in dirty campaign funds in a bank in Laguna Niguel. Propelled by their hatred for Nixon, the gang travelled to California to rip off the President of The United States. “Finding Steve McQueen” is an unbelievable true story about one of the most daring bank jobs of all time. But at its heart it’s a story about identity. Who we are versus who we want to be — and what happens when those worlds collide. FINDING STEVE MCQUEEN features Travis Fimmel (“Vikings,” Warcraft: The Beginning, The Experiment), Rachael Taylor (Transformers, “Jessica Jones”, Shutter,) William  Fichtner (“Mom,” Black Hawk Down, Crash, Armageddon)  and Forest Whitaker (Black Panther, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Last King of Scotland). The film is directed by Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider, Daredevil and Grumpy Old Men) is the true story behind “Finding Steve McQueen” one of those fascinating footnotes in American History that deserves to be told. And with a crooked president in the White House and a scandal looming…it’s a story that has never been more relevant. Director Mark Steven Johnson (Grumpy Old Men) stops by to talk about his beguiling stranger-than-fiction tale of politically motivated larceny and the love of a true Hollywood icon.

 

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For news and updates go to: momentumpictures.net

“[Director Mark Steven Johnson takes] what would have been a rather bland heist story and mix it with a mediocre love story to create an enjoyable final product. It’s an example of getting the most out of the material at hand.” – Rick Bentley, Tribune News Service

“Veteran director Johnson knows to prioritize his characters instead of his own cleverness, while Enzo’s motivating anger about bad men like Nixon reaching the highest levels of power without being punished for their crimes has a resonance today.” – Sherilyn Connelly, SF Weekly

“A slickly made piece of entertainment that’s a good time out at the movies.” – Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

Sharkwater Extinction, Founder of SeaChange Agency Brock Cahill

SHARKWATER EXTINCTION is a thrilling and inspiring action packed journey that follows filmmaker Rob Stewart (Sharkwater, Revolution) as he exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it – a conspiracy that is leading to the extinction of sharks. From West Africa, Spain, Panama, Costa Rica, France, and even in our own backyard, Stewart’s third film dives into the often violent underworld of the pirate fishing trade to expose a multi-billion dollar industry. Shark finning is still rampant, shark fin soup is still being consumed on an enormous scale, and endangered sharks are now also being used to make products for human consumption. Stewart’s mission is to save the sharks and oceans before it’s too late. SHARKWATER EXTINCTION exposes the illegal activities isn’t easy; protecting sharks has earned him some powerful enemies. Friend colleague and founder of SeaChange Agency Brock Cahill joins us to talk about working with director and sea mammal advocate Rob Stewart, the popular misconceptions about sharks and the challenge to stop the unwarranted slaughter of 150 million sharks every year by a clandestine world-wide cabal.

 

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For news and updates go to: sharkwater.com

Social Media for Sharkwater

facebook.com/SharkWater

twitter.com/teamsharkwater

instagram.com/teamsharkwater

For news and updates go to: theseachangeagency.org

Social Media for The SeaChange Agency

facebook.com/kurmalliance

twitter.com/kurmalliance

instagram.com/theseachangeagency

“Stewart… reveals a cruel market in which tens of millions of sharks are caught every year, their fins cut off and their bodies thrown back in the water to die.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times

“Stewart’s third film is also his best… with scenes of marine genocide that should make us all weep tears of rage.” – Peter Howell, Toronto Star

“Rob Stewart literally gave his life for Sharkwater Extinction. From the beginning, you see his passion for sharks and his dedication to saving them.” – Alan Ng, Film Threat

“An alarming, illuminating and emotionally gripping exposé. Forget about Captain Marvel and watch this powerful doc about the quest of a real-life hero, Rob Stewart, instead.” – Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People, Director Oren Rudavsky

Joseph Pulitzer’s New York newspaper, The World, would transform American media and make him wealthy, admired and feared. Throughout his four decades as a reporter and publisher, he created a powerful artistic vehicle that spoke to an unprecedented number of readers. Towards the end of his life, both sickly and blind, Pulitzer’s commitment to fearless reporting would tested by the most powerful person in American life. Pulitzer is an American icon who spoke of “fake news” over one hundred years ago. He fought the dangers that the suppression of news had for a democracy long before our present threats to press freedom. While he is remembered for the prizes that bear his name, his own heroic battles in the face of grave illness and Presidential ire have been forgotten as has the artistry and game changing originality he brought to newspapers. How did Joseph Pulitzer, once a penniless young Jewish immigrant from Hungary, come to challenge a popular president and fight for freedom of the press as essential to our democracy? Adam Driver narrates the film. Liev Schreiber is the voice of Pulitzer. Tim Blake Nelson is the voice of Teddy Roosevelt and Rachel Brosnahan is the voice of Nelly Bly. Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People Director and Producer Oren Rudavsky is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and several National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts grants. Rudavsky produced Witness Theater a film chronicling a Self help organized workshop between holocaust survivors and high-school students which will premiere in 2019. His previous films Colliding Dreams co-directed with Joseph Dorman, and The Ruins of Lifta co-directed with Menachem Daum, were released theatrically in 2016. Colliding Dreams was broadcast on PBS in May 2018.  Director Oren Rudavsky joins us for a conversation on the indispensable role Joseph Pulitzer played in the development of America’s crown jewel, freedom of the press.

 

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For news and updates go to: Josephpulitzerfilm.com

Opening March 8 Laemmle Music Hall (Beverly Hills) Towne Center 5 (Encino) and Playhouse 7 (Pasadena)

“Summarizing the great strides he made for journalism without ignoring his colorful flaws, Oren Rudavsky’s Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People is an excellent primer, not just on the man but on the birth of the modern newspaper.” – John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

“Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People serves as a profile of the publishing giant and an important lesson on freedom of the press.” – Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies

“Newspapers have been going downhill ever since the days of “yellow journalism” but this film about one of its masters demonstrates that documentaries are better than ever.” – Louis Proyect, Counterpunch.org

Bruce, Director Eden Marryshow

Always tight on money, with a self-inflated view of his own “genius,” Bruce (Eden Marryshow “Jessica Jones”) is an egocentric, self-professed writer, director, artist and playboy who damages all of his relationships, romantic or otherwise, as he cons his way through his self-obsessed existence with a mixture of swagger and deeply insecure neuroticism. On the heels of his parents cutting him off, his free ride comes to an abrupt end after his roommate (Jason Tottenham “Quantico”) informs him he’s moving in with his fiancé (Jade Eshete Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency). Desperate to keep his apartment and stay afloat financially, Bruce concocts a plan to run an ad for a hot female roommate and charge her 80% of the rent. When Bruce falls for one of the applicants (Mle’ Chester  “Vinyl”)he tries to turn his life around, but as the saying goes, “karma is a bitch.”  Will Bruce see the error of his ways or remain irredeemably awful? Director, Producer, Writer Eden Marryshow joins us to talk about assembling a terrific supporting cast and the inspiration for his brash feature film debut.

 

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For news and updates go to: brucethefilm.com

Social Media

facebook.com/brucethefilm

twitter.com/bruce_thefilm

instagram.com/bruce_thefilm

Woodsrider, Director Cambria Matlow

Tucked in the trees of Oregon’s Mount Hood, an introspective young snowboarder camps alone, anticipating a winter of adventure and self-renewal. In Cambria Matlow’s latest documentary WOODSRIDER a tenacious, 19-year old Sadie Ford operates within the poetic persona of a searching pioneer. Her footsteps track over the town of Government Camp’s mountain landscape, her dog Scooter her only constant companion. Deep among the Douglas firs Sadie snowshoes to build her nestled tentsite, a place she feels more at ease than anywhere with four walls. Riding sessions and house parties in town provide brief breaths of social interaction and connection, but otherwise she chooses to spend time in solitude. Sadie’s simple quest for joy is tempered by melancholy when increasingly warm temperatures on the mountain cause rain to replace snow, and the winter season grows shorter. Striking a youthful yet elegiac tone, WOODSRIDER is a meditative film about identity, home, and the way that human experience echoes that of the natural world. Director Caitland Matlow joins us to talk about the immersive, intimate look into the life of a woman determined to stake out her own path.

 

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For news and updates go to: woodsriderfilm.com

Social Media:

facebook.com/woodsrider

twitter.com/woodsriderfilm

“Matlow’s patient, unobtrusive camera and Ford’s magnetism as a subject makes Woodsrider

one of the most intimate docs you’ll see this year. Hauntingly beautiful.” – Walker Macmurdo, Willamette Week

“Stunning camerawork, lovingly composed with visual fluidity. This film will have a lot of appeal to audiences who understand the thrall of the wilderness. It’s a rare capture to see a woman, alone in the elements, strong, independent and totally at ease with her space. The film provokes a lot of thought about our ‘place’ in the natural – and unnatural – world.” – Ashland Independent Film Festival

“Lovely and engrossing, mixing an ethereal distance with a strange intimacy.” – Mark Elijah Rosenberg,
Rooftop Films

**2019 Cinequest Film Festival Spotlight: Clean Hands, Director Michael Dominic

Stunningly lensed and invoking the very best of cinema vérité, director Michael Dominic (SUNSHINE HOTEL) brings his newest feature documentary CLEAN HANDS to the Cinequest Film Festival for a much anticipated world premiere. Shot over the course of seven years (2011-2018) in Nicaragua, Clean Hands is a feature-length documentary which tells the remarkable, riveting story of the Lopez family surviving against the backdrop of Central America’s largest garbage dump, La Chureca and beyond. It is about family, extreme poverty, the hope and innocence of children, rescue and salvation, and the challenges we all face. This is a slice of life that is rarely seen. Director Michael Dominic stops by for a conversation on how crushing poverty impacts multiple generations and the daunting challenges people face in breaking the poverty cycle.

 

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For news and updates go to: cleanhandsmovie.com

Festival screening dates at Cinequest:

Century 20 Redwood City – Screen 1 Saturday, March 9 @ 3:15 PM

Century 20 Redwood City – Screen 17 Sunday, March 10 @ 4:35 PM

3Below Wednesday, March 13 @ 1:40 PM

Social Media:

facebook.com/cleanhandsmovie

twitter.com/CleanHandsFilm

instagram.com/mdominic

**2019 Cinequest Film Festival Spotlight: Mine 9, Director Edward Mensore

Mining country in Appalachia has been declared The Devilʼs Playground. A close-knit group of veteran miners, all friends and family, commence what would benormal dayʼs work — except today a rookie, the son of one of our veterans and the god-son of the Section Leader, joins them, 18 year-old Ryan. With ever-growing safety concerns at the mine, Zeke (Section Leader and long time coal mining veteran), struggles with the correct course of action, weighing on one hand the safety of his men, and on the other, the need to earn a steady wage in an economically depressed region. Today, however, fate takes matters into its own hands when a huge methane explosion rips through the mine. Smoke engulfs the men, forcing them to rely on nothing more than, brains, brawn and faulty self-rescuers (oxygen tanks that afford them one hour of air). MINE 9 is the story of the struggle for survival against all odds; men trapped in hell as the result of exploitation, greed and circumstance. Director Edward Mensore’s  intense new action/thriller MINE 9 will have its’ World premiere at the 2019 Cinequest Film Festival, running March 5-17th, 2019 in San Jose, California.  MINE 9 is Edward Mensore’s second feature film.  Eddie Mensore joins us to talk about his rivet, harrowing film about bravery in the face of insurmountable odds and the devotion of the men and women to a way of life.

 

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For news and updates go to: mine9movie.com

Festival screening dates at Cinequest:

3Below Friday, Mar 8 @ 7:00 PM

3Below Monday, Mar 11 @ 7:05 PM

Century 20 Redwood City #17 Tuesday, Mar 12 @ 6:15 PM

Century 20 Redwood City #2 Thursday, Mar 14 @ 5:00 PM

Social Media

facebook.com/mine9movie

twitter.com/Mine9movie

instagram.com/mine9movie

Plastic Flowers Never Die, Director Dr. Roxanne Varzi

The war with Iraq was the largest mobilization of the Iranian population, achieved primarily by producing and promoting a culture of martyrdom based on religious themes found in Shi’a Islam. Martyrdom became state policy. Khomeini made it clear the war was a spiritual one that the people, and not a professional army, would fight. It would be a sacred defense; a war of good against evil, of spirit against military might, where a human wave of believers would form a wall of defense against the Iraqis. Over 800,000 people died. Anthropologist, writer and filmmaker Roxanne Varzi spent twelve years researching and writing about post-Revolution public culture in Iran. As an Iranian-American who was born in Iran and left shortly after the Revolution she found that even though she had missed the war with Iraq it was omnipresent. She spent a year in Iran without a film permit speaking to ideologically driven mural painters, museum curators, war vets and other cultural producers alongside the secular youth who were meant to consume the culture created by the government. The result is an experimental documentary and meditation on the aftermath of the war, and especially the mourning after. Dr. Roxanne Varzi (Tehran Tourist) for a conversation on her compelling and informative film about her homeland, martyrdom and the devastating consequences of war.

 

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For news and updates go to: Plastic Flowers Never Die

Watch Plastic Flowers Never Die on Kanopy