DVD Box Set: The ALAN BERLINER Collection
ADVANCE DVD PRESS RELEASE LORBER FILMS ANNOUNCES THE DVD RELEASE OF THE ALAN BERLINER COLLECTION: A 5-DISC SET OF FILMS BY ALAN BERLINER New York, NY - June 13, 2011 - Lorber Films is proud to announce the DVD release of The Alan Berliner Collection, a 5-disc set of critically-acclaimed, award-winning films from Alan Berliner. The set, which includes The Family Album (1986), Intimate Stranger (1991), Nobody's Business (1996), The Sweetest Sound (2001), and Wide Awake (2006), comes to DVD in a 5-disc collection with bonus features including short films, interviews with Alan Berliner, and special DVD-ROM features. The set is priced at $99.95. It will be available on June 28, 2011. Alan Berliner's uncanny ability to combine experimental cinema, artistic purpose, and popular appeal in compelling film essays has made him one of America's most acclaimed independent filmmakers. "For the past 25 years, my work has traveled through the murky landscapes of human connectedness known as 'the family.' Messy. Complicated. Frighteningly familiar. Even embarrassing. I am endlessly fascinated by what it means to be related to others - culturally, psychologically, and genetically (past, present and future) - and have chosen to approach the family from the most personal perspective possible, treating my own family as a kind of living laboratory. At the same time, I want all of my films to transcend their detail and specificity by poetically illuminating the universal, the enduring - hopefully even the mythic qualities that bind us together as human beings. All of my films are rooted in my unwavering search for new (and uniquely) cinematic forms of storytelling. As such, they defy easy description. Experimental. Documentary. Biographical. Autobiographical. Essay. Personal. And all of their myriad combinations. I am comfortable at this crossroads of cinematic genre, language and vocabulary - a place where there are no rules, only endless possibilities. I am committed to making films in which the way I tell a story becomes as compelling as the story itself." -Alan Berliner THE ALAN BERLINER COLLECTION (5-DVD SET) THE FAMILY ALBUM (1986) The Family Album is a one-hour experimental documentary collage film utilizing a vast collection of rare, anonymous 16mm home movies from the 1920s through the 1950s. These home movies are authentic documents of American folk history and culture, taken from the personal vantage point of the amateur photographic eye. The film's soundtrack is derived from an eclectic variety of family audio recordings and oral history interviews. Structured from birth to death, the film weaves these sounds and images into the form of a composite lifetime, passing through the celebrations and struggles from childhood to adulthood, from innocence to experience. It is a universal yet intimate portrait of the American family, not scripted, not rehearsed, not immune to the conflicts and contradictions underlying family life and its rituals. Official Selection - Sundance Film Festival Winner - Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival Official Selection - Cinema Du Reel Film Festival BONUS FEATURES: POV Interview with Alan Berliner City Edition - A Short Film by Alan Berliner The Art of Process - a DVD-ROM Catalogue French, Spanish and English Subtitles US / 1986 / 60 min. / 4:3 (Full Frame) / Not Rated / in English INTIMATE STRANGER (1991) The elusive subject of this groundbreaking family portrait is Joseph Cassuto, filmmaker Alan Berliner's maternal grandfather - a Palestinian Jew who lived in Egypt and was a cotton buyer for the Japanese prior to World War II. With Hitler's armies just miles away from Alexandria, Cassuto's family is split in half. They reunite in New York after the war but Cassuto decides to move to Japan, virtually abandoning his wife and children in the U.S. while he pursues his business interests and a life-long love affair with Japanese culture. Seventeen years after his death, Berliner has constructed a poetic and emotional jigsaw puzzle out of the voluminous memorabilia of his grandfather's life story. What emerges is a curious legacy - admiration and love from Cassuto's Japanese business associates; resentment from his family. Depending on who you ask, Cassuto was either a romantic adventurer or a shirker of family responsibility; a man at the center of historic events or a nobody. Family members try to make sense of it all in this witty, candid and cinematically inventive documentary biography. Emmy Award Nominee - 1993 World Premiere - New York Film Festival Winner - Distinguished Achievement Award, International Documentary Association Official Selection - Sundance Film Festival BONUS FEATURES: POV Interview with Alan Berliner Myth in the Electric Age - a short film by Alan Berliner The Art of Process - a DVD-ROM catalogue French, Spanish & English subtitles 1991 / US / 60 min. / 4:3 (full frame) / Not Rated / in English NOBODY'S BUSINESS (1996) Alan Berliner takes on his reclusive father as the reluctant subject of this poignant and graceful study of family history and memory. What emerges is a dramatically engaging biography that finds both humor and pathos in the swirl of conflicts and affections that bind father and son. Ultimately this complex portrait is a meeting of the minds - where the past meets the present, where generations collide, and where the boundaries of family life are pushed, pulled, stretched, torn and surprisingly at times, also healed. Berliner achieves a rare feat of inter-generational sleuthing as he weaves together emotionally rich interviews with family members, an extraordinary array of archival material and home movies, and compelling original footage into a uniquely cinematic collage. This inventive and touching essay has become a classic film about the nature of family relationships. Emmy Award Winner - 1998 Winner - Caligari Film Prize, Berlin International Film Festival World Premiere - New York Film Festival Winner - Innovation in Documentary Festival Dei Popoli BONUS FEATURES: POV Interview with Alan Berliner Everywhere at Once - a short film by Alan Berliner The Art of Process - a DVD-ROM catalogue French, Spanish & English subtitles US / 1996 / 58 min. / 4:3 (full frame) / Not Rated / in English THE SWEETEST SOUND (2001) Alan Berliner is a lawyer in Columbus. Alan Berliner is a social worker in Seattle. Alan Berliner is a celebrity photographer in Los Angeles. Tired of being mistaken for these people and anyone else who might share his name, Alan Berliner, the filmmaker from New York - not to be confused with Belgian filmmaker Alain Berliner - decides to rid himself of the dreaded Same Name Syndrome. His solution: invite all the Alan Berliners in the world over to his house for dinner. With the intimacy and humor of a personal essay, Berliner dives headfirst inside the American name pool in search of the treasures and dangers hidden inside his own name. In the end, Berliner leaves us with a greater sense of the power and magic embedded in a name, and how all of our identities are inescapably shaped by what we call ourselves. A film guaranteed to make you think twice about the who, the why and the where contained in every name, The Sweetest Sound has Berliner's inimitable filmmaking signature written all over it. Official Selection - SXSW Film Festival World Premiere - Berlin International Film Festival Official Selection - Festival Dei Popoli BONUS FEATURES: POV Interview with Alan Berliner Natural History - a short film by Alan Berliner The Art of Process - a DVD-ROM catalogue French, Spanish & English subtitles US / 2001 / 60 min. / 4:3 (full frame) / Not Rated / in English WIDE AWAKE (2006) A film that balances the precision of a Swiss watch with the messiness of a restless mind, Wide Awake is Alan Berliner's uniquely personal tour through this life-long obsession with insomnia. Berliner uses both metaphor and candid first-person observations to illuminate how an obsessive mind that won't shut down at night leaves him feeling "jet lagged in his own time zone." By focusing on the effects of insomnia on Berliner's creative process, Wide Awake also becomes a film about the art of filmmaking. We see footage documenting the process of the film being made, a raucously caffeinated tour of his studio, and revelations about Berliner's secret life as a night owl. With the birth of his son Eli, Berliner becomes torn between his love of the night and the emotional pulls of love and responsibility that he feels for his family. A sophisticated blend of the hilarious and deeply personal, Wide Awake is a cinematically innovative film that pushes at the borders of documentary storytelling; a heartfelt portrait of the artist as insomniac. Official Selection - Hotdocs Film Festivals World Premiere - Sundance Film Festival Official Selection - Berlin Film Festival BONUS FEATURES: KQED TV Interview with Alan Berliner Alan Berliner on Wide Awake The Art of Process - a DVD-ROM catalogue Sleep Q&A - A DVD-ROM Extra Chasing Time - a DVD-ROM Story French, Spanish & English subtitles US / 2006 / 79 min. / 4:3 (full frame) / Not Rated / in English THE ALAN BERLINER COLLECTION Director: Alan Berliner Genre: Documentary $99.95 Street Date: June 28, 2011 US / 1986 - 2006 / 240 min. / 4:3 (full frame / Color and B&W / Not Rated / in English About Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is the newly formed company that combines the resources, staffs and libraries of Lorber Films, Alive Mind and Kino International, bringing together industry pioneers Richard Lorber and Donald Krim to create a new leader in independent film distribution. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
Press release
THE ARBOR Clio Barnard's Acclaimed Genre-Melding Film On British Playwright Andrea Dunbar Has U.S. Theatrical Premiere Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at Film Forum-NYC Plus 4 Screenings of the Rarely Seen Comedy RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO! Directed by Alan Clarke and Written by Andrea Dunbar Film Forum is pleased to present the U.S. theatrical premiere of THE ARBOR, a debut feature written and directed by Clio Barnard, beginning Wednesday, April 27th. The film is based on the life and autobiographical writings of Yorkshire playwright Andrea Dunbar, whose work was produced at London's prestigious Royal Court theatre, but who died of a brain hemorrhage at age 29 in 1990. Dunbar is best known to American audiences as the screenwriter of RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO! - the 1987 movie that took a darkly comedic approach to her hardscrabble life. THE ARBOR revisits this material through an innovative technique known as verbatim theater: actors lip-synching documentary recordings of the people they're playing. Dunbar's daughters update a family saga of alcoholism, drugs, prostitution, sexual abuse and violence. Rarely has the cyclical nature of poverty been so brilliantly and believably dramatized. Roger Ebert, writing about RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO! upon its release, called it "an angry comedy" and said: "If it were an American film, it would be an R-rated sex romp without a brain in its head, a soft-core baby-sitter saga… But this is a movie about two tough, deprived girls… and an irresponsible feather-brained adult who thinks he's taking advantage of them, when in fact they're a whole lot more worldly and cynical than he is." RITA, SUE…, rarely shown, will have (4) screenings at Film Forum (details below). THE ARBOR will have a 2-week engagement, April 27 - May 10, at Film Forum, West Houston Street (W. of 6th Avenue), with screenings daily at 1:15, 3:15, 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00. (No 6:00 screenings on Saturdays and Sundays.) In addition: RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO! (1987, 95 mins.) plays Sat./Sun., April 30/May 1 and May 7/8 at 6:00. Strand releasing webpage-http://www.strandrel.com/films/film_details.asp?BusinessUnitID={BFD06A96-7612-4F21-AEC0-3452C34902C4}&ProjectID={1B3C9E74-599B-4C54-9FBE-9E4100B5F019} THE ARBOR (2010, 94 mins.) Written & Directed by Clio Barnard. Produced by Tracy O'Riordan. Executive Producer: Michael Morris. Director of Photography: Ole Bratt Birkeland. Editor; Nick Fenton, Daniel Goddard. Cast: Manjinder Virk (Lorraine), Christine Bottomley (Lisa), Monica Dolan (Ann). Jimi Mistry (Yousaf). An Artangel / UK Film Council Production. UK. The film has strong Yorkshire accents; it will be shown with English subtitles. Strand Releasing. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
Press release
VARIANCE FILMS PRESENTS
AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
Opens April 8, 2011 in NYC
Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas’s AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY which will open in New York on April 8, 2011 (Cinema Village) with a national release to follow.
Seventeen years after his death, Bill Hicks has taken a permanent place in the cultural landscape and is widely recognized as one of the greatest American comedians of the modern era. Described as many things – philosopher, social satirist, even preacher – Hicks was ultimately a performer who, for many, changed what comedy could be.
He believed that comedy played a vital role in any free and just society, and that the comedian, a free spirit detached from political or corporate agendas, was able to voice what others wouldn't, challenging convention and presenting ideas that would stimulate the minds of the audiences.
Hicks had no difficulty making people laugh - but what he really wanted to do was make them think. His comedy savaged the injustices of life in the late eighties/early nineties hangover that was post-Reagan America. But his uncompromising approach was met with controversy and resistance at home, and he found fame on the international stage instead.
In 1993, on the verge of finally breaking through to the elusive mainstream American audience, Hicks was diagnosed with aggressive terminal cancer, and his life and career were cut short at the age of 32. But his timeless material lives on, revered today by both comedians (who frequently cite him as an influence) and fans alike. Bill Hicks’ remarkable journey is brought to life in the documentary feature AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY.
Combining revealing new interviews from those who knew him best with a bold new photographic animation technique, AMERICAN eschews “talking heads” and takes the audience inside Hicks’ unfolding life story using archival footage and animated photographs, many from Hicks’ personal collection and previously unseen.
It’s a film that innovates, inspires, and outrages- while being funny as hell in the process.
DIRECTED BY: Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas
RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2011 (NYC) / April 15, 2011 (Los Angeles) / April 22, 2011 (expansion)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.americanthemovie.com
RUNNING TIME / FORMAT / RATING: 101 minutes / Digital / Not Rated (contains strong language and drug content)
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VARIANCE FILMS PRESENTS
AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
Opens April 8, 2011 in NYC
Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas’s AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY which will open in New York on April 8, 2011 (Cinema Village) with a national release to follow.
Seventeen years after his death, Bill Hicks has taken a permanent place in the cultural landscape and is widely recognized as one of the greatest American comedians of the modern era. Described as many things – philosopher, social satirist, even preacher – Hicks was ultimately a performer who, for many, changed what comedy could be.
He believed that comedy played a vital role in any free and just society, and that the comedian, a free spirit detached from political or corporate agendas, was able to voice what others wouldn't, challenging convention and presenting ideas that would stimulate the minds of the audiences.
Hicks had no difficulty making people laugh - but what he really wanted to do was make them think. His comedy savaged the injustices of life in the late eighties/early nineties hangover that was post-Reagan America. But his uncompromising approach was met with controversy and resistance at home, and he found fame on the international stage instead.
In 1993, on the verge of finally breaking through to the elusive mainstream American audience, Hicks was diagnosed with aggressive terminal cancer, and his life and career were cut short at the age of 32. But his timeless material lives on, revered today by both comedians (who frequently cite him as an influence) and fans alike. Bill Hicks’ remarkable journey is brought to life in the documentary feature AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY.
Combining revealing new interviews from those who knew him best with a bold new photographic animation technique, AMERICAN eschews “talking heads” and takes the audience inside Hicks’ unfolding life story using archival footage and animated photographs, many from Hicks’ personal collection and previously unseen.
It’s a film that innovates, inspires, and outrages- while being funny as hell in the process.
DIRECTED BY: Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas
RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2011 (NYC) / April 15, 2011 (Los Angeles) / April 22, 2011 (expansion)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.americanthemovie.com
RUNNING TIME / FORMAT / RATING: 101 minutes / Digital / Not Rated (contains strong language and drug content)
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Press release
The New Documentary Film
HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Opens at New York’s Quad Cinema & Los Angeles’ Laemmle Theatres on May 13, 2011
First Run Features will release Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird fifty years after the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction on May 4, 1961.This documentary film by Mary McDonagh Murphy explores the phenomenon To Kill a Mockingbird became and unravels some of the mysteries around the novelist’s life, including why she never published again.
Harper Lee’s first and only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird was instantly a beloved classic. The film version, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, won a trio of Academy Awards. Luminaries like Tom Brokaw list the novel among their all-time favorite books, and Oprah Winfrey calls it “our national novel.” It is still required reading in most classrooms and sells nearly a million copies every year—many more than The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby or Of Mice and Men.
This month President Obama presented the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence, to ten recipients for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts. Among those honored was author Harper Lee. In characteristic fashion, Lee did not attend the ceremony.
The US Postal Service's new Gregory Peck stamp in the ‘Legends of Hollywood’ series depicts him wearing glasses, as Atticus Finch.
Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird chronicles how Lee was able to write such a work, the context and history of the Deep South where it is set, Lee’s family background and the social change the novel inspired after its publication.
Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, James McBride, James Patterson, Wally Lamb, Oprah Winfrey, and others interviewed by Murphy reflect on the novel's power, influence, and popularity and the many ways it has shaped their lives and careers.
Although Lee has not given an interview since 1964, Murphy's reporting, research and rare interviews with the author's friends and 99-year-old sister, Alice, add new details and never-before-seen documents and photos to the remarkable story of the Mockingbird phenomenon. Many speak on the record for the first time ever, sharing intimate recollections, anecdotes, and biographical details, including new information about Lee’s tumultuous friendship with Truman Capote.
Mary McDonagh Murphy is an independent filmmaker and the author of Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird, published by Harper Collins. Murphy was a producer for CBS News for twenty years where she won six Emmy Awards. Her other documentaries include Cry for Help, about adolescent suicide and depression, which aired nationally on PBS in 2009 and Digital Days, narrated by Tom Brokaw, about the Internet’s impact on the newspaper industry for the Associated Press.
“I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it, because I fell in love with Scout…I wanted to be Scout and I wanted a father like Atticus.” - Oprah Winfrey
HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
82 minutes, color, 2010, Stereo, Digibeta
Produced, Written and Directed by: MARY MCDONAGH MURPHY
Director of Photography: RICH WHITE
Editor/Producer: CHRISTOPHER SEWARD
Narrator: BOB MAYER
Editors: MARY ALFIERI, SEAN FRECHETTE, FRAN GULLO
Sound: JACK NORFLUS
Alabama Consultant: LYNN RABREN
Associate Producer: BRYONY KOCKLER
Website-http://firstrunfeatures.com/heyboodvd.html
The DVD will be released on July 19, 2011.
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The New Documentary Film
HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Opens at New York’s Quad Cinema & Los Angeles’ Laemmle Theatres on May 13, 2011
First Run Features will release Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird fifty years after the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction on May 4, 1961.This documentary film by Mary McDonagh Murphy explores the phenomenon To Kill a Mockingbird became and unravels some of the mysteries around the novelist’s life, including why she never published again.
Harper Lee’s first and only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird was instantly a beloved classic. The film version, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, won a trio of Academy Awards. Luminaries like Tom Brokaw list the novel among their all-time favorite books, and Oprah Winfrey calls it “our national novel.” It is still required reading in most classrooms and sells nearly a million copies every year—many more than The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby or Of Mice and Men.
This month President Obama presented the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence, to ten recipients for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts. Among those honored was author Harper Lee. In characteristic fashion, Lee did not attend the ceremony.
The US Postal Service's new Gregory Peck stamp in the ‘Legends of Hollywood’ series depicts him wearing glasses, as Atticus Finch.
Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird chronicles how Lee was able to write such a work, the context and history of the Deep South where it is set, Lee’s family background and the social change the novel inspired after its publication.
Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, James McBride, James Patterson, Wally Lamb, Oprah Winfrey, and others interviewed by Murphy reflect on the novel's power, influence, and popularity and the many ways it has shaped their lives and careers.
Although Lee has not given an interview since 1964, Murphy's reporting, research and rare interviews with the author's friends and 99-year-old sister, Alice, add new details and never-before-seen documents and photos to the remarkable story of the Mockingbird phenomenon. Many speak on the record for the first time ever, sharing intimate recollections, anecdotes, and biographical details, including new information about Lee’s tumultuous friendship with Truman Capote.
Mary McDonagh Murphy is an independent filmmaker and the author of Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird, published by Harper Collins. Murphy was a producer for CBS News for twenty years where she won six Emmy Awards. Her other documentaries include Cry for Help, about adolescent suicide and depression, which aired nationally on PBS in 2009 and Digital Days, narrated by Tom Brokaw, about the Internet’s impact on the newspaper industry for the Associated Press.
“I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it, because I fell in love with Scout…I wanted to be Scout and I wanted a father like Atticus.” - Oprah Winfrey
HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
82 minutes, color, 2010, Stereo, Digibeta
Produced, Written and Directed by: MARY MCDONAGH MURPHY
Director of Photography: RICH WHITE
Editor/Producer: CHRISTOPHER SEWARD
Narrator: BOB MAYER
Editors: MARY ALFIERI, SEAN FRECHETTE, FRAN GULLO
Sound: JACK NORFLUS
Alabama Consultant: LYNN RABREN
Associate Producer: BRYONY KOCKLER
Website-http://firstrunfeatures.com/heyboodvd.html
The DVD will be released on July 19, 2011.
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ODW-REPORT
WHO IS HARRY NILSSON? - On Demand
05/18/11_On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home.
Today’s review: WHO IS HARRY NILSSON? (AND WHY IS EVERYBODY TALKIN’ ABOUT HIM) - FilmBuff._
_WHO IS HARRY NILSSON? We'll Tell Ya_By Anita Serwacki_
Mention the songs “Coconut,” “Without You,” “Everybody’s Talkin’,” or “One (Is the Loneliest Number)” and there’s a pretty good chance most anyone could hum a few bars. But mention the name Harry Nilsson and you’re bound to get one of two divergent reactions: gushing reverence or more often a blank stare.
A musical genius’ musical genius - venerated by the likes of John Lennon, Brian Wilson and Randy Newman - Harry Nilsson was a 1970s pop music powerhouse with legendary songwriting talent and vocal gifts. But his avoidance of public performance and penchant for self-destruction, along with his staunch refusal to be artistically pigeonholed, left him with a
brief career and without the popular name recognition enjoyed by those he influenced.
Nilsson’s story covers familiar territory – a hardscrabble youth overcome by immense talent, a meteoric rise in the music business sabotaged by a love affair with pills and the bottle, and ultimately a career decline and untimely death.
But the colorful associations and the exceptional details of Harry’s life set him far apart from your average “Behind the Music” subject. Not just anyone has The Mamas & The Papas’ Cass Elliot AND The Who’s Keith Moon die in his apartment.
Director John Schienfeld (THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON) weaves a vast collection of photos, home movies, archival footage, Harry’s audio diaries and on-camera interviews with a star-studded cast of characters who’d been drawn into Nilsson’s wake (including Monty Python’s Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, Robin Williams, Yoko Ono and Jimmy Webb), creating a rich portrait of this largely forgotten, angel-voiced enfant terrible, with a soundtrack featuring dozens of recordings from throughout his career.
_Look for _WHO IS HARRY NILSSON?_ (FilmBuff) under your cable system's On Demand section._
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WHO IS HARRY NILSSON? - On Demand
05/18/11_On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home.
Today’s review: WHO IS HARRY NILSSON? (AND WHY IS EVERYBODY TALKIN’ ABOUT HIM) - FilmBuff._
_WHO IS HARRY NILSSON? We'll Tell Ya_By Anita Serwacki_
Mention the songs “Coconut,” “Without You,” “Everybody’s Talkin’,” or “One (Is the Loneliest Number)” and there’s a pretty good chance most anyone could hum a few bars. But mention the name Harry Nilsson and you’re bound to get one of two divergent reactions: gushing reverence or more often a blank stare.
A musical genius’ musical genius - venerated by the likes of John Lennon, Brian Wilson and Randy Newman - Harry Nilsson was a 1970s pop music powerhouse with legendary songwriting talent and vocal gifts. But his avoidance of public performance and penchant for self-destruction, along with his staunch refusal to be artistically pigeonholed, left him with a
brief career and without the popular name recognition enjoyed by those he influenced.
Nilsson’s story covers familiar territory – a hardscrabble youth overcome by immense talent, a meteoric rise in the music business sabotaged by a love affair with pills and the bottle, and ultimately a career decline and untimely death.
But the colorful associations and the exceptional details of Harry’s life set him far apart from your average “Behind the Music” subject. Not just anyone has The Mamas & The Papas’ Cass Elliot AND The Who’s Keith Moon die in his apartment.
Director John Schienfeld (THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON) weaves a vast collection of photos, home movies, archival footage, Harry’s audio diaries and on-camera interviews with a star-studded cast of characters who’d been drawn into Nilsson’s wake (including Monty Python’s Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, Robin Williams, Yoko Ono and Jimmy Webb), creating a rich portrait of this largely forgotten, angel-voiced enfant terrible, with a soundtrack featuring dozens of recordings from throughout his career.
_Look for _WHO IS HARRY NILSSON?_ (FilmBuff) under your cable system's On Demand section._
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Press release
THE WOODMANS:
Provocative Portrait of Photographer Francesca Woodman, Her Artist Family, and Tragic Demise
Documentary Has U.S. Theatrical Premiere Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at Film Forum-NYC
Film Forum is pleased to present the U.S. theatrical premiere of THE WOODMANS, opening Wednesday, January 19. Francesca Woodman’s haunting B&W images, many of them nude self-portraits, now reside in the pantheon of great photography from the late 20th century. The daughter of artists Betty and Charles Woodman (she a ceramicist and he a painter/ photographer), Francesca was a precocious RISD graduate, who came to New York with the intention of setting the art world on fire. But in 1981, as a despondent 22-year-old, she committed suicide.
THE WOODMANS beautifully interweaves the young artist’s work (including experimental videos and diary passages) with interviews with the parents who have nurtured her professional reputation these past 30 years, while continuing to make art of their own in the face of tragedy. The film grapples with such issues as parent-child competition and the toxic level of ambition that fuels the New York art scene. It also has much to say about the healing powers of creativity. Winner of the Best New York Documentary award at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
THE WOODMANS will have a 2-week engagement January 19 - February 1 at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (W. of 6th Av.) with screenings daily at 1:00, 2:50, 4:30, 6:20, 8:10, 10:00.
THE WOODMANS (2010, 82 mins.) Directed by C. Scott Willis. Produced by Neil Barrett, Jeff Werner and C. Scott Willis. Cinematographer: Neil Barrett. Editor: Jeff Werner. Art Direction: Ekin Akalin. Original Score: David Lang. Original Score Performed by So Percussion. USA. Released by Lorber Films, a division of Kino Lorber, Inc.
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THE WOODMANS:
Provocative Portrait of Photographer Francesca Woodman, Her Artist Family, and Tragic Demise
Documentary Has U.S. Theatrical Premiere Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at Film Forum-NYC
Film Forum is pleased to present the U.S. theatrical premiere of THE WOODMANS, opening Wednesday, January 19. Francesca Woodman’s haunting B&W images, many of them nude self-portraits, now reside in the pantheon of great photography from the late 20th century. The daughter of artists Betty and Charles Woodman (she a ceramicist and he a painter/ photographer), Francesca was a precocious RISD graduate, who came to New York with the intention of setting the art world on fire. But in 1981, as a despondent 22-year-old, she committed suicide.
THE WOODMANS beautifully interweaves the young artist’s work (including experimental videos and diary passages) with interviews with the parents who have nurtured her professional reputation these past 30 years, while continuing to make art of their own in the face of tragedy. The film grapples with such issues as parent-child competition and the toxic level of ambition that fuels the New York art scene. It also has much to say about the healing powers of creativity. Winner of the Best New York Documentary award at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
THE WOODMANS will have a 2-week engagement January 19 - February 1 at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (W. of 6th Av.) with screenings daily at 1:00, 2:50, 4:30, 6:20, 8:10, 10:00.
THE WOODMANS (2010, 82 mins.) Directed by C. Scott Willis. Produced by Neil Barrett, Jeff Werner and C. Scott Willis. Cinematographer: Neil Barrett. Editor: Jeff Werner. Art Direction: Ekin Akalin. Original Score: David Lang. Original Score Performed by So Percussion. USA. Released by Lorber Films, a division of Kino Lorber, Inc.
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Press release
Docu-director Doug Block's
THE KIDS GROW UP
Opens on Friday, October 29, 2010
at the Angelika Film Center in NYC - Starts November 12th in LA
On behalf of Shadow Distribution, the new documentary from New York filmmaker Doug Block (51 BIRCH STREET). The tender and funny coming of age story of both a daughter and her father, THE KIDS GROW UP was a Special Jury Award winner at the Silverdocs Festival and a favorite at the IDFA, Hot Docs, and Full Frame documentary festivals.
The film will open on Friday, October 29 at the Angelika Film Center, New York City, and on Friday, November 12 at Laemmle Theaters, Los Angeles. A national roll-out will follow.
In his 51 BIRCH STREET, one of the most highly praised personal documentaries of recent years, Doug Block took a hard look at his parents’ marriage and his own relationship with his father. With his latest project, the filmmaker turns in the other direction, offering an exceptionally moving film about his relationship with his only child, Lucy.
Block has filmed his daughter from the moment of her birth, but now she has turned 17, and is just months away from leaving home for college. Moving fluidly between past, present, and the fast-approaching future, Block uses a lifetime of footage to craft not only a loving portrait of a girl transitioning into womanhood, but also an incredibly candid look at modern-day parenting, marriage, and what it means to let go.
90 minutes. A Shadow Distribution release. Not rated.
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Docu-director Doug Block's
THE KIDS GROW UP
Opens on Friday, October 29, 2010
at the Angelika Film Center in NYC - Starts November 12th in LA
On behalf of Shadow Distribution, the new documentary from New York filmmaker Doug Block (51 BIRCH STREET). The tender and funny coming of age story of both a daughter and her father, THE KIDS GROW UP was a Special Jury Award winner at the Silverdocs Festival and a favorite at the IDFA, Hot Docs, and Full Frame documentary festivals.
The film will open on Friday, October 29 at the Angelika Film Center, New York City, and on Friday, November 12 at Laemmle Theaters, Los Angeles. A national roll-out will follow.
In his 51 BIRCH STREET, one of the most highly praised personal documentaries of recent years, Doug Block took a hard look at his parents’ marriage and his own relationship with his father. With his latest project, the filmmaker turns in the other direction, offering an exceptionally moving film about his relationship with his only child, Lucy.
Block has filmed his daughter from the moment of her birth, but now she has turned 17, and is just months away from leaving home for college. Moving fluidly between past, present, and the fast-approaching future, Block uses a lifetime of footage to craft not only a loving portrait of a girl transitioning into womanhood, but also an incredibly candid look at modern-day parenting, marriage, and what it means to let go.
90 minutes. A Shadow Distribution release. Not rated.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AHEAD OF TIME Opens in NYC on Sept. 10, 2010 (& in LA on Sept. 24th)!
Press release
"You couldn't invent Ruth Gruber, not even in a movie."
- Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan
Reel Inheritance & Vitagraph Films present
AHEAD OF TIME
Ruth Gruber didn't just report the news. She made it!
Exclusive New York Engagement Starts September 10th
The youngest person to earn a PhD, at age 20 in 1931 (and as an American in Germany no
less!). The first journalist to explore the Soviet Arctic region at age 24. A participant in a secret war-time mission to escort Holocaust refugees for President Roosevelt and on the scene to report on the infamous Exodus ship's attempt to reach Palestine with Jewish refugees. Her photos informed the world.
Born in 1911, Jewish American author, photojournalist, humanitarian and adventurer Ruth Gruber was always ahead of her time. AHEAD OF TIME, the directorial debut of award-winning cinematographer Bob Richman (September Issue, My Architect) relates the remarkable real-life journey of Ruth Gruber, a spirited woman who rejected the gender boundaries of her generation - leaving Brooklyn for studies in Berlin, where she witnessed the rise of Nazism and began documenting her observations.
An impassioned foreign correspondent, she began her illustrious career with the New York Herald
Tribune, is the award-winning author of 19 books and even had tea with Virginia Woolf! President Harry Truman told Ruth
Gruber in 1946 that all the problems in the Middle East were because of oil and--64 years later--things haven't changed.
Celebrating her 99th birthday on September 30, 2010, Ruth Gruber was not content to simply witness the most defining events of the 20th century, she participated in making that history!
Meet Ruth Gruber, Director Bob Richman, Producer Zeva Oelbaum in person at select shows. Check our website or your local newspaper or movie ticketing website for showtimes and appearances. Ruth will appear only in New York. Bring your daughters to meet Ruth Gruber. She will inspire and charm the whole family!
See the trailer [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=7ogurrcab&et=1103639571540&s=5413&e=001fbckFQYoLiHyZknHIniz3gefNejeGNkKmloH79Dnx8kYV3WQeF
wuSM2PVwyNbdxwkFRg5aVWXuJrd60wSLrjmZJfRsVu1FV2axh4_snVoYWrlxCZmmW4iAAraD3F7kj8Z0bjJcuSN15
X6JN58hXM0pDC88EQjALL]:
Executive Produced by: Denise Benmosche, Patti Kenner, and Doris Schechter
NYC-*Sept. 10th opening / **Los Angeles-September 24 opening in TWO theaters
More theatres will be announced on the AHEAD OF TIME website as they are confirmed. For more information see:
www.aheadoftimethemovie.com[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=7ogurrcab&et=1103639571540&s=5413&e=001fbckFQYoLiEuLi9c3fXZ7lqWUuNUAOCeHWoAxXaQ7YtNw8eW4qeaq-Cm7SBQqLR0WovlQmgg9UQxJPtVCastXiZCg8P0M1lYs20L1xKlkSno--DPwQlZORNetbFcdfiu]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You couldn't invent Ruth Gruber, not even in a movie."
- Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan
Reel Inheritance & Vitagraph Films present
AHEAD OF TIME
Ruth Gruber didn't just report the news. She made it!
Exclusive New York Engagement Starts September 10th
The youngest person to earn a PhD, at age 20 in 1931 (and as an American in Germany no
less!). The first journalist to explore the Soviet Arctic region at age 24. A participant in a secret war-time mission to escort Holocaust refugees for President Roosevelt and on the scene to report on the infamous Exodus ship's attempt to reach Palestine with Jewish refugees. Her photos informed the world.
Born in 1911, Jewish American author, photojournalist, humanitarian and adventurer Ruth Gruber was always ahead of her time. AHEAD OF TIME, the directorial debut of award-winning cinematographer Bob Richman (September Issue, My Architect) relates the remarkable real-life journey of Ruth Gruber, a spirited woman who rejected the gender boundaries of her generation - leaving Brooklyn for studies in Berlin, where she witnessed the rise of Nazism and began documenting her observations.
An impassioned foreign correspondent, she began her illustrious career with the New York Herald
Tribune, is the award-winning author of 19 books and even had tea with Virginia Woolf! President Harry Truman told Ruth
Gruber in 1946 that all the problems in the Middle East were because of oil and--64 years later--things haven't changed.
Celebrating her 99th birthday on September 30, 2010, Ruth Gruber was not content to simply witness the most defining events of the 20th century, she participated in making that history!
Meet Ruth Gruber, Director Bob Richman, Producer Zeva Oelbaum in person at select shows. Check our website or your local newspaper or movie ticketing website for showtimes and appearances. Ruth will appear only in New York. Bring your daughters to meet Ruth Gruber. She will inspire and charm the whole family!
See the trailer [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=7ogurrcab&et=1103639571540&s=5413&e=001fbckFQYoLiHyZknHIniz3gefNejeGNkKmloH79Dnx8kYV3WQeF
wuSM2PVwyNbdxwkFRg5aVWXuJrd60wSLrjmZJfRsVu1FV2axh4_snVoYWrlxCZmmW4iAAraD3F7kj8Z0bjJcuSN15
X6JN58hXM0pDC88EQjALL]:
Executive Produced by: Denise Benmosche, Patti Kenner, and Doris Schechter
NYC-*Sept. 10th opening / **Los Angeles-September 24 opening in TWO theaters
More theatres will be announced on the AHEAD OF TIME website as they are confirmed. For more information see:
www.aheadoftimethemovie.com[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=7ogurrcab&et=1103639571540&s=5413&e=001fbckFQYoLiEuLi9c3fXZ7lqWUuNUAOCeHWoAxXaQ7YtNw8eW4qeaq-Cm7SBQqLR0WovlQmgg9UQxJPtVCastXiZCg8P0M1lYs20L1xKlkSno--DPwQlZORNetbFcdfiu]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Criterion Special Edition DVD release of Terry Zwigoff's CRUMB (Special Offer)
NOW ON A SPECIAL EDITION DVD
CRUMB
A film by Terry Zwigoff
Terry Zwigoff's landmark 1995 film is an intimate documentary portrait of underground artist Robert Crumb, whose unique drawing style and sexually and racially provocative subject matter have made him a household name in popular American art.
Zwigoff candidly and colorfully delves into the details of Crumb's incredible career, as well as his past, including his family of reclusive eccentrics, some of the most remarkable people you'll ever see on-screen.
At once a profound biographical portrait, a riotous examination of a man's controversial art, and a devastating look at a troubled family, CRUMB is a genuine American original.
Director-Approved Special Edition Features:
* New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Terry Zwigoff
* Two audio commentaries, one from 2010 with Zwigoff, and one from 2006, featuring Zwigoff and critic Roger Ebert
* Outtakes and deleted scenes - over 50 minutes of unused footage in this edition
* Stills gallery
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
SPECIAL PRICE: $32 + shipping & handling. 20% off retail price
Click here to order
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CRUMB
A film by Terry Zwigoff
Terry Zwigoff's landmark 1995 film is an intimate documentary portrait of underground artist Robert Crumb, whose unique drawing style and sexually and racially provocative subject matter have made him a household name in popular American art.
Zwigoff candidly and colorfully delves into the details of Crumb's incredible career, as well as his past, including his family of reclusive eccentrics, some of the most remarkable people you'll ever see on-screen.
At once a profound biographical portrait, a riotous examination of a man's controversial art, and a devastating look at a troubled family, CRUMB is a genuine American original.
Director-Approved Special Edition Features:
* New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Terry Zwigoff
* Two audio commentaries, one from 2010 with Zwigoff, and one from 2006, featuring Zwigoff and critic Roger Ebert
* Outtakes and deleted scenes - over 50 minutes of unused footage in this edition
* Stills gallery
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
SPECIAL PRICE: $32 + shipping & handling. 20% off retail price
Click here to order
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brigitte Berman's HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL Opens on July 30, 2010!
Press release
Phase 4 Films Presents:
HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL
A Film by Academy Award Winner Brigitte Berman
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel profiles the outspoken, flamboyant founder of the Playboy empire.
When Hefner launched Playboy magazine in 1953, he became a champion of the sexual revolution and, immediately, the forces of Church and State initiated a war against him that raged over the decades. Hefner is revealed both as a hedonistic playboy, but, more importantly, as the man who's been a groundbreaking advocate and catalyst for civil rights, the First Amendment, and human rights.
With humor and insight, the film captures Hefner's fierce battles with the government, the religious right, and militant feminists. Compelling interviews with a remarkable Who's Who of the decades, and rare footage, present a snapshot of the life of an extraordinary man and the controversies that surrounded him.
Distributor: Phase 4 Films
Written and Directed by: Brigitte Berman
Produced by: Victor Solnicki and Brigitte Berman
Running time: 124 minutes
Release Date: July 30th (LA and NY)
Official website: http://www.hughhefnerplayboyactivistrebel.com/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Phase 4 Films Presents:
HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST AND REBEL
A Film by Academy Award Winner Brigitte Berman
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel profiles the outspoken, flamboyant founder of the Playboy empire.
When Hefner launched Playboy magazine in 1953, he became a champion of the sexual revolution and, immediately, the forces of Church and State initiated a war against him that raged over the decades. Hefner is revealed both as a hedonistic playboy, but, more importantly, as the man who's been a groundbreaking advocate and catalyst for civil rights, the First Amendment, and human rights.
With humor and insight, the film captures Hefner's fierce battles with the government, the religious right, and militant feminists. Compelling interviews with a remarkable Who's Who of the decades, and rare footage, present a snapshot of the life of an extraordinary man and the controversies that surrounded him.
Distributor: Phase 4 Films
Written and Directed by: Brigitte Berman
Produced by: Victor Solnicki and Brigitte Berman
Running time: 124 minutes
Release Date: July 30th (LA and NY)
Official website: http://www.hughhefnerplayboyactivistrebel.com/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE is On DVD now!!!
Press release
ARTHOUSE FILMS PRESENTS
WILLIAM KUNSTLER:
DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE
On behalf of Arthouse Films, Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler’s documentary WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE documents the astonishing career of late radical civil rights lawyer William Kunstler.
Featuring: William Kunstler, Herman Badillo, Dennis Banks, Harry Belafonte, Clyde Bellecourt, Father Daniel Berrigan, Phil Donahue, Jimmy Breslin, Alan Dershowitz, Elizabeth Fink, Jean Fritz Karin Kunstler Goldman, Tom Hayden, Bruce Jackson, Gregory Joey Johnson, Ron Kuby, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Nancy Kurshan, Gerald Lefcourt ,Rev. Vernon C. Mason, Bill Means, Michael Ratner, Paul Red, Yusef Salaam, Bobby Seale, Barry Slotnick, Michael Smith, Lynne Stewart, M. Wesley Swearingen, Madonna Thunderhawk and Len Weinglass
WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE will open in New York on November 13 (Cinema Village) and November 20 in Los Angeles (Landmark Nuart) with a national release to follow.
In WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer.
In the 1960s and 70s, William Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War.
When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.
To his daughters, it seemed that he was at the center of everything important that had ever happened. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins.
This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for; it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all.
Directors: Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler
Producers: Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler, Jesse Moss, Susan Korda
Run Time: 85 minutes/ Rating: Unrated
Release Dates: November 13 at Cinema Village in New York City and November 20 at Landmark Nuart in Los Angeles
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOW PLAYING in select theaters!!!
... check local listings for a theater near you ...
April 1, 2010
TBA
+++++++++++++
UPCOMING screenings:
TBA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++
ARTHOUSE FILMS PRESENTS
WILLIAM KUNSTLER:
DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE
On behalf of Arthouse Films, Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler’s documentary WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE documents the astonishing career of late radical civil rights lawyer William Kunstler.
Featuring: William Kunstler, Herman Badillo, Dennis Banks, Harry Belafonte, Clyde Bellecourt, Father Daniel Berrigan, Phil Donahue, Jimmy Breslin, Alan Dershowitz, Elizabeth Fink, Jean Fritz Karin Kunstler Goldman, Tom Hayden, Bruce Jackson, Gregory Joey Johnson, Ron Kuby, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Nancy Kurshan, Gerald Lefcourt ,Rev. Vernon C. Mason, Bill Means, Michael Ratner, Paul Red, Yusef Salaam, Bobby Seale, Barry Slotnick, Michael Smith, Lynne Stewart, M. Wesley Swearingen, Madonna Thunderhawk and Len Weinglass
WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE will open in New York on November 13 (Cinema Village) and November 20 in Los Angeles (Landmark Nuart) with a national release to follow.
In WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer.
In the 1960s and 70s, William Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War.
When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.
To his daughters, it seemed that he was at the center of everything important that had ever happened. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins.
This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for; it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all.
Directors: Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler
Producers: Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler, Jesse Moss, Susan Korda
Run Time: 85 minutes/ Rating: Unrated
Release Dates: November 13 at Cinema Village in New York City and November 20 at Landmark Nuart in Los Angeles
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOW PLAYING in select theaters!!!
... check local listings for a theater near you ...
April 1, 2010
TBA
+++++++++++++
UPCOMING screenings:
TBA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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