Documentary Premieres With Sundance Doc Club

The documentary Walk Away Renee from director Jonathan Caouette will see its digital premiere through SundanceNOW’s new SVOD program, Doc Club, day-and-date with its North American film festival premiere.

Walk Away Renee hits North America June 27 at CAMcinemaFest 2012, while Doc Club subscribers will be able to download or stream the film that same day as part of Doc Club’s June offerings. Additionally the film can be rented on SundanceNOW for $6.99. The film premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and is the follow-up to Caouette’s 2004 film Tarnation, a harrowing memoir-doc about his life growing up gay and with a mentally ill mother that he famously made for $218.32 using iMovie on his Mac.

Walk Away Renee sees Caouette taking a road trip to move his mentally ill mother across the country, with flashbacks to the past portraying their extraordinary relationship.

“This online premiere of Caouette’s Walk Away Renee is a major step forward for SundanceNOW and Doc Club,” said Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects and SundanceNOW. “Our mission is to bring films to audiences in multiple ways and create exciting, innovative campaigns for each film. To give fans of Tarnation the ability to watch Jonathan’s new film from any computer in the country is the best way to make it as available as possible.”

SundanceNOW is the digital sister of Sundance Selects, which an arm of the Sundance Film Festival that brings films to 40 million homes via transactional a VOD platform through major cable providers such as Comcast, Cablevision, Cox, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, as well as theatrically and on disc and digital download.

Seeing Tarnation on DVD when it was first released, I was stricken by how it was like no movie I had ever seen before. Viewers with the utmost stoicism and skepticism, a disposition for which they could be forgiven, knowing Tarnation’s seemingly precious and self-indulgent set-up, have been moved far beyond expectation by Tarnation’s hyperreality — not only is it a film which redefines the documentary, it predated much of social networking and foreshadowed the way Facebook and YouTube give us far more avenue than we could have dreamed for sharing our stories, for better or worse. It remains one of my all-time favorite films, and I’m glad that for his long-awaited follow-up, Caouette has remained ahead of the curve, in terms of the way this film is being brought to audiences.

 

James Redford, Son of Robert Redford, Talks Whole Foods Film

As a child, James Redford was fascinated by the creation of Lake Powell. He and his family (including famous father Robert Redford, Oscar-feted director/actor and founder of the Sundance Film Festival) would visit there, but he knew it came at the expense of the beautiful Glen Canyon, which was flooded by the Colorado River, which passes through it, after the creation of the Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963, a year after Redford was born. Seventeen years later, Lake Powell hit its intended high water mark, completing the creation of Lake Powell.

“It seemed like a shattering tragedy loomed over every subsequent visit to the lake,” Redford said. “But it didn't stop my family from going there. The vast raw beauty of the Southwest shined through. The oddity and, frankly, hubris of manipulating a natural system never left my curiosity.”

Redford produced the film Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West about the human activity surrounding the Colorado River, how the river has receded and what could be done to help the situation. The documentary is narrated by Robert Redford and directed by Mark Decena.

The film is the second entry in this year’s edition of Whole Foods Market’s Do Something Reel Film Festival, which began on Earth Day (April 22) and features films dealing with issues regarding food and the environment. Watershed can be streamed at for $5.99 through May, with a different film available on the site each month.

Additionally the film will be shown at select Whole Foods stores. A list of screenings, plus tips on conserving water, can be found at and Whole Foods’ Facebook page.

Redford said the film also is available on DVD for free to community organizations or nonprofits that want to hold public screenings of the film. He said they also are in discussions related to a cable broadcast.

Watershed is Redford’s fourth social impact documentary, after The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia, Mann V. Ford and The Kindness of Strangers. Redford said he now is in production on two more such films.

“I feel blessed to do these kinds of films,” he said. “As for ‘Bob,’ I'm sure he'll continue to build on his extraordinary record.”

Proceeds will help fund the 2012 Whole Foods Market/AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival filmmaker grants, and the festival is presented in association with Applegate Organic & Natural Meat, Earthbound Farm Organic, Popcorn Indiana and siggi’s.

Whole Foods Market also has partnered with online charity fundraising site Crowdrise to allow donations to the Colorado River Delta Water Trust, dedicated to restoring the Colorado River Delta, at www.crowdrise.com/watershed.

“If the 1% that inhabits the Colorado watershed were to write checks for $100, you could buy enough water rights to reconnect the river to the Gulf of California,” Redford said. “You could get the same amount of water if everyone in Denver reduced the square footage of their lawns by 50%. This is doable.”

Comcast, Tribeca Give Access to Tribeca Film Fest

Comcast’s Xfinity TV subscribers are in luck. Beginning April 17, Xfinity TV and Tribeca Film will give the service’s 20 million-plus subscribers access to the 11th Annual Tribeca Film Festival via Xfinity On Demand and XfinityTV.com. 

 

Subscribers will get access to films before they screen, including Death of a Superhero, The Giant Mechanical Man and Sleepless Night. Jesus Henry Christ, a title from last year’s fest, also will be available April 17, and more new titles will follow, including Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story, April 26. Additionally subscribers can view other current and past Tribeca films as well as special behind-the-scenes extras.

“For our customers that aren’t located in an area that has arthouses or screenings of indie films, this is a great way to experience a world-class indie film festival like Tribeca,” said Maggie McLean Suniewick, VP of video services for Comcast Cable.  “Our Xfinity On Demand and XfinityTV.com platforms give filmmakers access to millions of homes that they may not have reached otherwise, and we are committed to working with filmmakers and festivals to help broaden the distribution of these films and to bring the best festival experiences and indie films to our customers.”

Death of a Superhero features motion-capture star Andy Serkis (The Hobbit, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) in a story of a teenager struggling with his mortality.

Romantic comedy The Giant Mechanical Man stars Jenna Fischer (“The Office”), Chris Messina (Vicky Christina Barcelona) and Topher Grace (“That 70's Show”).

French action thriller Sleepless Night follows a cop dodging drug dealers in a nightclub as he tries to rescue his son from a crime kingpin, to whom he’s in debt.

Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story explores life in 1960s Mississippi and “Booker” Wright, a black man who spoke his mind on race relations on network TV. Jesus Henry Christ stars Academy Award nominees Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Little Miss Sunshine) and Michael Sheen (Midnight in Paris, Frost/Nixon) in a comedy about a boy prodigy who is searching for his biological father.

TLA Inks With Polish Distributor Tongariro

TLA Releasing has signed a deal with Polish LGBT distributor Tongariro to release content to Poland day-and-date with the United States and the United Kingdom. The first title under the deal will be the drama Beauty.

“The expansion into the Polish market provides further assurance of a global day-and-date strategy with our future releases, and we are excited to be making in-roads into a rapidly expanding European market,” said TLA President Derek Curl.

Additionally, the VOD service Outfilm.pl will debut in Poland in late February, featuring TLA content.

Magnolia Nabs ‘Marley’

Magnolia Pictures has landed the U.S. rights to Marley, a documentary about reggae legend Bob Marley directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and executive produced by Bob’s son, Ziggy Marley, and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell.

Marley will make its world premiere at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February and will premiere in North American at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin in March. The film comes to theaters day-and-date with VOD April 20.

“This documentary is the ultimate revelation of my father’s life,” said Ziggy Marley. “The family is proud to be able to have the world finally experience this emotional journey."

SnagFilms Launches Apps

Indie on-demand site SnagFilms has put some of its most popular titles on free apps for Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Android-based smartphones and other tablets using the Android and Blackberry Playbook Tablet platforms.

SnagFilms’ app brings 400 non-fiction, fiction and foreign films to more than 50 smartphone models and 10 tablet models. SnagFilms earlier this year bowed an iPad app as well. SnagFilms also will launch apps for connected TVs later this month, with an app for Sony’s connected TVs already in place.
 

SnagFilms Gets Digital Rights For Six Docs

has acquired the digital distribution rights to documentaries Windfall, Southern Comfort, PUSH: Madison versus Madison, Never Make it Home, City Lax and Soccer City.

SnagFilms will release the films via distribution partners Comcast Xfinity, FiOS, DIRECTV, iTunes, Amazon and VUDU. Additionally, the company has acquired exclusive digital rights for award-winning documentary Capturing the Friedmans.

“SnagFilms is pleased to bring these festival favorites and award winners to digital audiences in the comfort of their homes,” said Rick Allen, SnagFilms CEO. “These are six amazing true stories, incredibly well told. We look forward to bringing them to film fans worldwide, first on a transactional basis and ultimately on snagfilms.com and via our online network, mobile apps and connected TV devices.”

SnagFilms also recently acqeuired 2011 films Dragonslayer, which won the grand jury prize at South By Southwest and opens theatrically in New York tomorrow and Los Angeles next week, and Splinters, another festival favorite, which was selected for the IDFA film festival later this month.

Windfall explores the dark side of wind power. Southern Comfort documents the last year in the life of a female-to-male transsexual who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and turned down for treatment. PUSH: Madison versus Madison tells of a troubled yet talented inner-city high school basketball team. Never Make it Home follows eccentric country singer Kirk Rundstrom, who has two months to live.

Sports docs City Lax: An Urban Lacrosse Story and Soccer City also have been acquired by ESPN for telecast.

 

Magnolia Gets Rights to ‘Take This Waltz’

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Take This Waltz, a film by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and actress Sarah Polley (who directed Away With Her).

The film stars Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby and Sarah Silverman and follows a young woman (Williams) in a love triangle between her husband (Rogen), who is a cookbook author, and handsome artist (Kirby) who lives across the street. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will play at more festivals in the coming months.

“With Take This Waltz, Sarah Polley has more than lived up to the promise of the wonderful Away From Her, and proven herself a masterful, sensitive chronicler of the human condition,” said Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles. “The entire cast is revelatory in unexpected ways and we think audiences will be surprised and delighted by this very special film.”

Polley adds: “Magnolia has distributed some of my favorite films of the last few years. It is an honor to have our film counted among their incredible list of titles. Their enthusiasm for the film is very exciting and we can’t wait to begin working with them.”

Magnolia plans to release the film theatrically in early summer 2012 and through its Ultra VOD program, which premieres films via video-on-demand prior to their theatrical releases for $10.99 in HD and $9.99 in standard-definition, then lowers the price subsequently as the films hit theaters and then home video.
 

Osiris Titles to Stream on Netflix

Independent film distributor Osiris Entertainment will see its content streaming on Netflix starting Oct. 15, according to Osiris.

New titles to stream through a third-party aggregator deal include Solitary, An American in China, Eva, Tricks of a Woman, A Lure, Dumping Lisa and The Fall, with the film Weakness available starting Dec. 6. Library titles in the deal include Amanda, Cayman Went, Road of No Return, Alpha Bots Christmas, Bonanza: Dark Star, Christmas Classics: Vol. 1, Holiday Favorites Volume 1-5, Miracle on 34th Street, Popeye & Friends, Santa and the Three Bears, Santa Claus, Superman Cartoons, The Swiss Family Robinson and Zulu.

“Because Osiris distributes quality entertainment from a variety of genres, our films attract a wide range of viewers, which is crucial in order to stay on top as a supplier within the burgeoning world of digital distribution,” said Osiris CEO Evan Crooke.

Just don't expect to rent them on DVD from Netflix — try Qwikster!
 

FlixFling Bows Indie Channel

Streaming site FlixFling is starting a channel for independent filmmakers called IndieFling.

The cool thing about IndieFling is that it will be open to ANY film longer than 60 minutes — yes, that means you can submit that live-action role-playing “Lord of the Rings” epic you filmed in your backyard. Once approved, the films will be available to rent or purchase for a one-year period, with proceeds shared with the filmmaker.

FlixFling plans to promote the indie channel to its community. It does not plan to accept short films.

“We're excited to support the independent film community with IndieFling,” says FlixFling CEO, Thomas Ashley. “As it becomes more difficult to independently distribute a film, it's great to provide a venue for filmmakers to showcase their work.”

To submit, filmmakers should send a physical copy of the film and a completed packet (available at ) to FlixFling, which will charge a small fee to cover the cost of reviewing and uploading the film and its data. There are no judgments made by FlixFling on the film itself; it just has to follow certain guidelines set on the site.