In her first feature, Danish filmmaker Lise Birk Pedersen offers a chilling view of modern Russia, its fragile — perhaps illusory — democracy, and Nashi's alarmingly fascist tendencies (mass rallies, book burnings, "patriotic education," and vilification of opponents). But, distinguished by an artful, cinematic aesthetic and astonishing intimacy, the film's emotional weight lies in the evolution of Masha's political consciousness. Putin's Kiss reminds us that all politics are deeply personal.
- John Nein, Sundance Film Festival
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A Good Day to Die chronicles a movement that started a revolution and inspired a nation. By recounting the life story of Dennis Banks, the Native American who co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to advocate and protect the rights of American Indians, the film provides an in-depth look at the history and issues surrounding AIM's formation. From the forced assimilation of Native Americans within boarding schools, to discrimination by law enforcement authorities, to neglect by government officials responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, AIM sought redress for the many grievances that its people harbored.
Download is available worldwide.
A terrific review and analysis of two recent Kino Lorber releases PUTIN'S KISS and KHODORKOVSKY in this month's Atlantic.
As depicted in Putin's Kiss, Khodorkovsky, and even in the more equivocal Target, the most damaging way that a state can be tyrannical is by breeding an attitude of cynicism and apathy toward democratic freedom—in essence, censoring the desire for freedom in the mind before it can emerge in the real world. Surely this is the real tragedy of authoritarianism, and it remains to be seen whether the Russian people will be able to overcome it as they choose their new leader in Russia's upcoming elections.
Read the entire review here. If you would like to bring either film to your community, drop us a note.
Are all film distributors equal? (Of course not!) What do the most successful distributors have in common? How can a filmmaker find out? In A to Z of Distribution (with an emphasis on 'E'), come learn what distinguishes four of the leading documentary distributors in the marketplace: Kino Lorber, Women Make Movies, Cinema Guild and New Day. Moderated by Elizabeth Sheldon, VP of Kino Lorber, each distributor will discuss how they select films, their different paths to market, what makes each company unique, and what they all have in common (hint, hint: starts with the letter ‘E’). Whether it is a theatrical department, digital distribution, specialty collections, or a strength in reaching the college/university/library market, each of the featured distributors has survived and thrived over the decades. Come learn why, how you and your film can benefit, and what they are looking for at SXSW.
Read more here.
Daring Expose Chronicles Gradual Disillusionment of Pretty Putin Protégé.
Born outside Moscow in 1989, Masha Drakova is a member of the first generation raised in Russia in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the impressionable age of 15, she was recruited to join Nashi, a political youth group created by the Kremlin to shape the country's future leaders via a subtle form of mass mind control.
Consequently, young Masha soon took to heart the benign party line about the organization's primarily being pro-democracy and anti-fascist. And within a year, the poised and pretty patriot was promoted to a top position as the student movement's spokesperson.
Rising through the ranks, Masha was richly rewarded during her tenure as a reliable mouthpiece, enjoying her own television talk show, as well as such perks as a car, an apartment and a college education, all paid for by the government. She also became famous as the girl who had kissed Vladimir Putin after receiving a widely-publicized peck on the cheek while accepting a medal from him.
Totally taken with the President, Masha stated openly that he was the role model for the type of man she'd like to marry someday, citing such virtues as his strength, charisma and intelligence. But in swallowing the proverbial Kool-Aid hook, line and sinker, she was blinded to the secret flaws in her idol's persona.
Truth be told, Putin was a tyrant who was simultaneously discouraging dissent with the help of an army of henchmen comprised of Nashi zealots. His loyal goon squads were willing to advance the power-hungry President's agenda by any means necessary, whether that called for burning books, breaking a journalist's jaw, or by pooping on a political opponent's automobile.
Putin's Kiss is a daring documentary which carefully chronicles all of the above, along with Masha's gradual disillusionment with Putin and his repressive regime. The movie marks the marvelous directorial debut of Sweden's Lise Birk Pederson, an intrepid first-time filmmaker who ostensibly put herself and her brave subjects at considerable risk to shoot such an incendiary story on location in such an unforgiving police state.
An eye opening expose' not to missed, which reveals a "New Russia" that looks a lot like the "Old Russia."
See the trailer and visit the official website here: www.putinskissmovie.com. Opens February 17th at Cinema Village. Click here to buy your ticket now.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In Russian with subtitles.
Running time: 85 minutes
Distributor: Kino Lorber Films
Deadlines to Apply: March 9 (Documentary) / April 6 (Narrative)
IFP's Independent Filmmaker Labs are a year-long fellowship supporting independent filmmakers when they need it most: through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their first features. Lab submission is open to all first-time documentary and narrative feature directors with films in post-production. Structured in three week-long components held over the year, the Labs offer personalized attention on post-production, audience building, and distribution strategies in the digital age, followed by continued support from IFP as the project premieres in the marketplace.
Recent Lab Project alumni now in theaters include Dee Rees' Pariah (Focus Features), Alrick Brown's Kinyarwanda (AFFRM), and Victoria Mahoney's Yelling to the Sky (MPI), being released this spring. Premieres at 2012 festivals have included An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (Sundance), Welcome to Pine Hill (Slamdance, Grand Jury Award), Una Noche (Berlin), and The Light in Her Eyes and Smokin' Fish (IDFA 2011) - with more Lab alumni set for upcoming festivals and broadcast. To apply or for more information, please visit http://www.ifp.org/programs/labs.
KINO LORBER ACQUIRES ALL US RIGHTS TO AWARD-WINNING DOC 5 BROKEN CAMERAS (2012)Winner of the World Cinema Directing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Kino Lorber, Inc. (www.kinolorber.com) is proud to announce the acquisition of all US and Canadian rights to the acclaimed documentary 5 Broken Cameras (2012), a daring chronicle of resistance in the West Bank by first-time Palestinian director Emad Burnat and Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi.
Filmed from the perspective of a Palestinian farm laborer (i.e. co-director Emad Burnat), 5 Broken Cameras was shot using five different video cameras - all of them destroyed in the process of documenting Emad's family's life and non-violent Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.
Emad, who lives in Bil'in, just west of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, was thrust into global politics when his community peacefully resisted Israeli plans to erect a wall through their village. Initially given the camera to chronicle the birth and childhood of his son Gibreel, the film captures Gibreel growing into a precocious preschooler against the backdrop of the many non-violent protests that became an intrinsic part of life in the West Bank.
With hundreds of hours of video footage covering a period of over six years, Guy Davidi and Emad have turned "five broken cameras" into a larger-than-life lyrical device that both informs and structures their personal and collective struggles in the West Bank. Furthermore, this Palestinian, Israeli and French co-production daringly meshes personal essay with political cinema, displaying how images and cameras can change lives and realities.
Richard Lorber commented: "This is that most rare film of both inspiration and aspiration; with all the visceral impact of a war movie, it operates on a higher cinematic and poetic plane. Ultimately the film drives deeper thinking and caring about a global political issue through the intimacy of its personal vision. We think audiences across the entire polarized Middle East spectrum will be powerfully moved by it as they have been already at key festivals."
5 Broken Cameras continues Kino Lorber's tradition of supporting Palestinian and Israeli productions (releases include the Academy Award nominated film Ajami and Beaufort) that illuminate long-standing issues in the Middle East. The film also stands as cinema of the highest order, and since its premiere on the festival circuit in the late fall, the film has won a Special Jury and an Audience Award at the prestigious International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) and received the World Cinema Directing Award (Documentary) at
Sundance Film Festival.
Kino Lorber plans to release 5 Broken Cameras to the theatrical, non-theatrical and educational markets in late summer - before a home video and digital release at the end of the year with television following. The film has just started its festival life, and given its outstanding reception so far, Kino Lorber expects 5 Broken Cameras to play in many other key US festivals in 2012.
This acquisition was negotiated between Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber and Vice President Elizabeth Sheldon and Catherine Le Clef, President of the Paris-based international sales agency CAT&Docs.
The Mill and The Cross, starring Rutger Hauer and Charlotte Rampling, based on the book by Michael Francis Gibson exploring Breugel the Elder's famous "Way to Cavalry," is available for download from MyFilmBlog for $14.95 in HD. Don't tarry. Watch now!
If you are a fan of Mads Brugger, who went behind the Iron Curtain separating South and North Korea in his first doc Red Chapel, you will enjoy The Ambassador even more. As Karinna Longworth from LA Weekly notes in her Sundance review, Mads represents the latest form of gonzo journalism, following in the foot steps of Hunter S. Thompson but taking more risk to expose political corruption.
This time Mads travels to the Central African Republic under diplomatic pretense. He brings a strong fashion sensibility to his mission, like Sean O'Connory in the early Bond films if he were dressed by Helmut Lang, which climaxes in one political assassination and a failed attempt to smuggle diamonds. Mads escape back to the Congo and civilization leaves many questions unanswered except to highlight that political corruption in Africa is so entrenched that the current president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson, was banned from holding political office at one point in her career on grounds of crimes against humanity.
Hope that everybody will be able to catch the movie soon in a theater near you. Stay tuned.
What we suspected long ago is now confirmed:
She may be a newcomer, but Alison Klayman, who makes her directorial debut with documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, isn't wet behind the ears. Klayman met the provocative Chinese artist while working in China for Global Radio News, producing radio and television features for PBS Frontline and NPR, and has been working on her documentary since 2008. Given Ai's recent arrest -- he was jailed in China for 80 days in April for alleged tax evasion, charges his supporters believe are the government's revenge for his online activism and fight for free speech -- this is one of Sundance's more anticipated docs. Klayman's explorations of modern China, as well as the blurring of politics and art, means we'll likely be hearing a lot more about this film and Klayman in the year to come.
Read more here.
Crazy Wisdom makes The Global Culture Girl's Guide to Last Minute Gifts on Huffington Post:
My favorite pastime is watching films. But not just any moving pictures, ones that will change my life. Fortunately, just in time for Christmas, three DVDs of personal favorites are available to buy and there is no excuse not to infuse your friends' lives with a little culture and a lot of cinematic love. ... for the spiritual junkies in your lives Crazy Wisdom is both entertaining and extremely enlightening.
Zombie movies always have a component of political commentary but how appropos that the Cubans have taken the popular genre and adapted it to satirize their own political revolution.
“Juan of the Dead” tells the blood-drenched tale of a slacker who decides to save the island from an invasion of cannibalistic zombies. As the zombies turn Havana into a gory circus of flying limbs and severed heads, the nightly news anchors continue to calmly assert the government line, that the attacks are not the work of the undead but dissidents in the pay of the United States.
Crazy Wisdom: Premium Digital and Limited Edition DVD Release
Crazy Wisdom is now available for download-to-own, which includes a limited edition white label DVD that ships free. Available only from Alive Mind Cinema to US viewers. Tell your friends!
Limited Edition DVDs are Sold Out! (Update 01/10/12)
Just back from IDFA, where there was a plethora of great docs. The official prize for Best Feature Length Doc went to the South Korean film Planet of Snail and the Audience Award to 5 Broken Cameras. Other festival favorites: Putin's Kiss and Mads Bruegger's newest film, The Ambassador. We released his prior film, Red Chapel, which you can download here.
Sushi: The Global Catch also had its European premier and will be coming to a featival or theater near you soon.
Stay tuned for more.