September 4th, 2021
Dillon Gonzales
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Kino Lorber has unveiled some of the details of their October 2021 Blu-Ray and DVD releases from their Kino Lorber, The Milestone Cinematheque, Virgil Films, Greenwich Entertainment, Good Deed Entertainment and Cohen Film Collection imprints. Get all the details on this incredibly packed lineup below:
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PLAYING FRISBEE IN NORTH KOREA
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Street Date: 10/5/21 (DVD Only)
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Synopsis: Playing Frisbee in North Korea is the first documentary produced and directed by an African-American female filmmaker from inside North Korea. The idea began at a conference on Korean Re-unification organized by General Colin L. Powell and the Colin Powell Center, where director Savanna Washington was a Graduate Fellow. Through verité footage from inside North Korea, interviews with North Korean refugees, long time aid workers, scholars, and experts on the topic, this documentary provides an authentic, on the ground perspective of the lives, struggles, and humanity of the people of North Korea. Called “The Hermit Kingdom,” North Korea is an enigma wrapped in a quagmire of misinformation, international distrust and fear. In the middle of this are the people of North Korea, isolated from the world by their own government. Are they “puppets” of the North Korean government that many claim, or everyday people trying to live their lives and support their families under the strain of chronic malnutrition, deprivation, and total control by their government? In truth, they are both. Even under such hardship, they are fiercely proud of their country and have an abiding, and even religious fervor for the Kim family, rulers of the tiny kingdom for over 65 years. The North Korean people are as enigmatic to the world as their government.
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Street Date: 10/5/21
Synopsis: Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015) is the debut feature from Chloé Zhao, the Academy Award®-winning director of Nomadland (2020). It is a compelling and complex portrait of modern day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that explores the bond between a brother (John Reddy) and his younger sister (Jashaun St. John), who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home.
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Street Date: 10/19/21 (DVD Only)
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Synopsis: As live performances on Broadway start up again after an unprecedented absence of 18 months, an all-star cast tells the inside story of the last time Broadway theater came back from the brink. On Broadway shows how this revival helped save New York City, thanks to innovative work, a new attention to inclusion and the sometimes-uneasy balance between art and commerce. Legends of the stage and screen, including Hugh Jackman, Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, August Wilson, James Corden, Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Viola Davis, and Ian McKellen, take us behind the scenes of Broadway’s most groundbreaking and beloved shows, from A Chorus Line to Hamilton. Archival clips of iconic performances by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters, James Earl Jones and Mandy Patinkin lead the way in a hurly-burly ride through the main street of American show business. A beacon of hope after a devastating pandemic, this documentary from Academy Award®-nominated director Oren Jacoby and the producers of RBG shows how Broadway led the way in New York City’s last great rebirth and provides a model of how it can come back again.
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GOMORRAH: THE SERIES (SEASON 1)
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Street Date: 10/26/21
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Synopsis: Gomorrah: The Series is the worldwide gangster show phenomenon from Stefano Sollima (Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, Romanzo Criminale), which is based on Roberto Saviano’s best-selling book and the subsequent award-winning film of the same name. Season 1 tells the inside story of the fierce Neapolitan crime organization the Camorra. It is shown through the eyes of Ciro (Marco D’Amore), the obedient and self-confident right-hand man of the clan’s godfather, Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino), whose loyalty is pushed to its limits over twelve blood-drenched episodes.
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Street Date: 10/12/21
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Synopsis: Directed by Mario Roncoroni and scripted by sci-fi author Giovanni Bertinetti, FILIBUS is the most exciting, witty, feminist, steampunk, cross-dressing aviatrix thriller you will ever see! Flying high above the clouds in her dirigible, the titular sky pirate steals from the rich before mysteriously vanishing into the clouds. With the famed Detective Hendy on her trail, Filibus must up her game by posing as the Baroness Troixmond, volunteering to help with her own case! A cat-and-mouse adventure unlike any other, newly remastered by the Eye Filmmuseum, restoring the film’s marvelous range of Desmet tinting and toning to new visual delights.
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Street Date: 10/26/21
Synopsis: One of the most acclaimed music documentaries of all time, Say Amen, Somebody is George T. Nierenberg’s masterpiece — a joyous, funny, deeply emotional celebration of African American culture, featuring the father of Gospel, Thomas A. Dorsey (“Precious Lord, Take My Hand”); Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith; and soul-shaking performances by the Barrett Sisters, the O’Neal Twins, and Zella Jackson Price.
When it was first released in 1982, the film garnered rave reviews around the world. Unseen for decades, Say Amen, Somebody was restored to 4K by Milestone in collaboration with the director. The restoration was produced by the National Museum of African American History and Culture with funding by The Robert Frederick Smith Fund for the Digitization and Curation of African American History and the Academy Film Archive. The new restoration features restored Dolby stereo and 5.1 soundtracks.
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Street Date: 10/5/21 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: Based on the book HEAVEN: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS by Alan Duprey and adapted by screenwriter Angus Benfield, the new faith-based film HEAVEN tells the story of Jonathan Stone (Benfield), a middle-aged paramedic who struggles to find meaning in the midst of his everyday life, until he wakes up one day in Heaven and discovers that his life had more meaning than he could ever have imagined. Set between Heaven and Earth, HEAVEN follows the life and afterlife of Jonathan Stone and the lives of those around him from his past, present and future.
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Street Date: 10/19/21 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: The iconic Mister Kelly’s, once called a “supernova in the local and national night life firmament,” illuminated legendary Chicago’s Rush Street, and the entire country, by launching talent like Barbra Streisand, Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart, Bette Midler and Steve Martin. Its visionary owners George and Oscar Marienthal smashed color and gender barriers to put unknown, controversial voices on stage and transform entertainment.
Now, with the club long gone, and its star talent reaching its golden years, George’s son David and director/screenwriter Theodore Bogosian go on a quest to collect the memories of the clubs before they are lost. Live at Mr. Kelly’s includes interviews with Bob Newhart, the Smothers Brothers, Dick Gregory, Lainie Kazan, Herbie Hancock, Dick Cavett, Tim Reid, Fred Willard and Ramsey Lewis.
How do you change the world with a laugh and a song? Find out in a film that documents the rise and fall of one of American entertainment’s great proving grounds.
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Street Date: 10/5/21
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Synopsis: They say the boy was scared to death. When the death of a child at a boarding school is blamed on a ghost, hoax exposer Florence Cathcart is certain that science and reason can explain it. But the truth she discovers is more terrifying than she could ever imagine, and soon the ghost hunter becomes the hunted. Starring Rebecca Hall (The Town), Dominic West (The Wire) and Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter films), The Awakening is a terrifying mystery filled with haunting twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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Street Date: 10/12/21
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Synopsis: Casanova, Last Love is the latest romantic ravishment from director Benoit Jacquot (Farewell, My Queen). London, 18th century. Casanova (Vincent Lindon), famous for his taste of pleasure and gambling, arrives from Paris, forced into exile. In this city he knows nothing about, the libertine meets on several occasions a young prostitute, Marianne de Charpillon (Stacy Martin). She attracts him to the point he starts disregarding all other women. The legendary seducer is ready to do anything to get her, but La Charpillon always escapes under various excuses. She challenges Casanova: “You will only have me if you stop desiring me!”
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Street Date: 10/19/21
Synopsis: Newly Restored! Eric Portman (A CANTERBURY TALE) plays an artist obsessed with the past. He surrounds himself with Renaissance artwork, infatuated with the notion that he and his lover (Edana Romney) are reincarnations of the lovers in a centuries-old painting. Portman’s delusions have deadly consequences. One of the most unusual British films of the 1940s, CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS incorporates aspects of gothic horror, film noir, melodrama, fantasy, romance and thrillers. The first feature by director Terence Young (DR. NO., WAIT UNTIL DARK), it was heavily influenced by Jean Cocteau’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and David Lean’s BRIEF ENCOUNTER, and includes the feature film debut of Christopher Lee (THE LORD OF THE RINGS).
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Street Date: 10/5/21 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: A rising star in progressive politics and a new father, 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life is upended when he is diagnosed with ALS. But after a confrontation with powerful Senator Jeff Flake on an airplane goes viral, catapulting him to national fame, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation political movement called “Be a Hero.” Together, they barnstorm across the country and empower people to confront their elected officials with emotional, personal stories to demand healthcare justice and Ady holds groundbreaking interviews with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. As Ady rises to become Politico’s “Most Powerful Activist in America,” he discovers that collective action and speaking truth to power offers hope for his family and millions of others.
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Street Date: 10/12/21 (DVD Only)
Synopsis: Featuring interviews with Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cornel West, and Naomi Klein, The Big Scary “S” Word explores the rich history of the American socialist movement. Weaving together hidden episodes of history and verité footage, the film shows that, contrary to popular belief, socialism is in fact deeply American and led to popular government programs such as public schools and Medicare. Activists and journalists explain how the 2008 financial crisis, the Wall Street bailout, the Occupy Movement, and the ascension of politicians like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have pushed a new generation to embrace the language of socialism.
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SAVIOR FOR SALE: DA VINCI’S LOST MASTERPIECE?
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Street Date: 10/19/21 (DVD Only)
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Synopsis: Salvator Mundi (The Savior of the World) became the world’s most expensive painting when it was sold at Christie’s for $450 million in 2017. Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci after its discovery, the painting unleashed passions while revealing the excesses of our time. But is it really the work of the Italian genius, or one of the greatest scams in the history of art? A modern tale of globalization, Savior for Sale delves into the secrets of the art world and explores the influence that one painting can exert on personal and geopolitical interests.
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Street Date: 10/26/21 (DVD Only)
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Synopsis: Answered Prayers was meant to be Truman Capote’s greatest masterpiece, an epic portrait of New York’s glittering jet-set society. Instead, it sparked the downfall of the iconic author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood. Through never-before-heard audio archives and interviews with Capote’s famous friends and infamous enemies, The Capote Tapes reveals the rise and fall of one of America’s most influential writers and public figures.
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Street Date: 10/19/21
Synopsis: Summertime follows the intersecting stories of 27 young spoken word poets over a single day in Los Angeles. Director Carlos López Estrada’s (Blindspotting, Raya and the Last Dragon) ground-breaking vision began at a poetry showcase where performers from across the City of Angels recited fearlessly personal texts about themselves, their communities, and their relationship to their city. The project was then developed around their individual poems and interwoven into a larger, unified, and gloriously moving narrative experiment — part contemporary musical and part sociological art. Summertime explores themes of identity, community, and intersectionality through the unique perspectives of this diverse ensemble.
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