Based on best-selling book by Noah Levine, film delves into America’s urban punk Buddhist scene.
Prebooks August 18th through E1 Entertainment Distribution, street date September 15th
New York, NY – August 11, 2009 – MEDITATE AND DESTROY profiles the persona who quite possibly represents America’s most unexpected Buddhist: former punk rocker and juvenile delinquent Noah Levine, bestselling author of the book Dharma Punx. As a teenager, Levine was mired in an abyss of violence, drug and alcohol abuse – and criminal detention. When he hit bottom, attempting suicide in juvenile jail in the late 80’s, Levine received a phone call from his father who instructed him how to take baby steps toward initiating meditation practice. Knowing that he either need to die or to change, Levine tested meditation and felt a glimmer of freedom from his intense suffering. Today, Levine is a respected teacher and figure in what is perhaps the most unconventional Buddhist community in the country: the “Dpunx Nation.” Staking claim to his egalitarian urban vision, Levine states that “Buddhism is not just for hippies anymore” as he reaches out to a new generation of youths who are turning to meditation as they seek a departure from their lives of drugs, violence and crime. In major cities throughout America, these unlikely Buddhists find comfort – and affinity – in Levine’s approach. Today, New York, Hollywood, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boulder and Portland all host regular Dharma Punx-inspired meditation groups that allow punks to develop their own awareness on a deep level while retaining their edge and individuality.
MEDITATE AND DESTROY is the definitive documentary film about the Dharma Punx nation, its roots and continued expansion in U.S. cities.
Synopsis
MEDITATE AND DESTROY profiles bestselling author of Dharma Punx and Against the Stream
Noah Levine and his journey from a life of addiction and violence to that of dedicated meditation teacher and community leader. Interviews with family and friends, including renowned Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, illustrate the driving forces that compelled Levine to turn to Buddhism, while conversations with his students testify to a man whose candor inspires others to integrate Buddhist teachings of nonviolence and inner peace with the experiences and challenges of Generation X.
Advertising guru Simon Cole documents his road trip across America and its diverse religious communities in search of the AlmightyPrebooks August 18th through E1 Entertainment Distribution, street date September 15th
New York, NY – August 11, 2009 – If you don’t believe in God, but want to, where do you begin? Simon Cole sets out across America in search of a connection with God that has perplexed and eluded him throughout his life in the new documentary film SO HELP ME GOD.
In Religulous, Bill Maher embarked on a satirical quest to find God while mocking the beliefs of the religious. In SO HELP ME GOD, Simon Cole chronicles his odyssey across the nation asking Christians, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Amish, Jews, Sikhs, Mormons, Buddhists and fellow free thinkers quite simply, “Who is God?” Cole’s sincerity instantly puts his subjects at ease as they share cherished stories and beliefs from virtually every religious tradition in the country. A humble supplicant in search of God, or at least insights about Him, Cole visits communities from the Pentecostal deep south to the Hasidic enclaves of Brooklyn to the gay Catholic congregations of the West Coast. This powerful documentary is more than one man’s quest to connect with God, it is a collage of the contemporary American religious experience that concludes with a personal revelation.
New York, NY, July 1, 2009 - On Independence Day weekend, the newly branded Lorber Films will open its first two theatrical releases in New York City to be followed by engagements in other markets around the country. On Friday, July 3, the new company will open the award-winning Chilean film TONY MANERO at Cinema Village in New York, and the acclaimed Sundance documentary NOLLYWOOD BABYLON, about the burgeoning, homegrown Nigerian cinema industry, at The Museum of Modern Art where it will enjoy a week-long run.
Company President and CEO Richard Lorber notes, "Throughout my 28-year-career I've launched labels with excellent partners, first as Fox Lorber in 1981 and more recently as Koch Lorber. Well, I have new partners now but no one's asking for marquee billing, so this Independence Day we're launching - just - Lorber Films. And we reasonably expect fireworks!"
Lorber Films is the specialty film releasing label for arthouse, foreign language and documentary features of Lorber HT Digital, which also releases documentaries in the areas of enlightened consciousness and cultural transformation through its Alive Mind label. Working in the company along side Richard Lorber, President and CEO, are key executives Elizabeth Sheldon, Vice President of Acquisitions and Ray Privett, Director of Theatrical and Festival Distribution.
Also coming up from Lorber Films is THE SUN, Aleksandr Sokurov's epic humanistic portrait of the Japanese people and their Emperor at the end of WWII.
About TONY MANERO
The highly anticipated disco-psycho drama TONY MANERO, by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, was the official selection of Chile to the 81st Academy Awards, and has been honored as an official selection of the New York Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival and the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Set on the streets of Santiago, Chile in 1978 to the throbbing backbeat of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack punctuated by the random thrashings of Pinochet's military, TONY MANERO reveals a palpably gritty alternate reality to the days of disco in 1970s America.
Current engagements for as follows - dates subject to change:
New York, NY - Cinema Village, July 3, open-ended
Columbus, OH - Wexner Center, July 10, limited engagement
Los Angeles, CA - Laemmle Music Hall, July 17, open-ended
Kansas City, MO - Screenland, July 24, open-ended, though only on weekends
Cleveland, OH - Cleveland Cinematheque, August 14, limited engagement
Seattle, WA - Northwest Film Forum, August 21, open-ended
Nashville, TN - The Belcourt, September 11, open-ended
San Francisco, CA - Sundance Kabuki, September 11, open-ended
Minneapolis, MN - The Walker, September 11 weekend, limited
Silver Spring, MD - late September, date TBD, as part of a festival at the AFI, limited
Portland, OR - October 9, The Hollywood, open-ended
Rochester, NY - November 13-14, George Eastman House, limited engagement
About NOLLYWOOD BABYLON 
NOLLYWOOD BABYLON chronicles the wild world of "Nollywood," a term coined in the early ‘90s to describe the world's fastest-growing national cinema, surpassed only by its Indian counterpart. The film delves first-hand into Nigeria's explosive homegrown movie industry, where Jesus and voodoo vie for screen time. Peppered with outrageously juicy movie clips and buoyed by a rousing score fusing Afropop and traditional sounds, NOLLYWOOD BABYLON celebrates the distinctive power of Nigerian cinema as it marvels in the magic of movies.
Current engagements for as follows - dates subject to change:
New Orleans, LA - The Zeitgeist, currently on screen
Seattle, WA - Grand Illusion, currently on screen
Oklahoma City, OK - Oklahoma City Museum of Art, opens July 9
Austin, TX - Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz, plays August 12-9
Albuquerque, NM - The Guild, opens September 13
Hartford, CT- Real Art Ways, TBD
Bellingham, WA - Pickford Cinema, TBD
About Lorber HT Digital
Lorber HT Digital acquires, co-produces and markets specialty feature film and documentary programming for targeted interest groups via theatrical release, digital delivery, direct-to-consumer DVDs, and traditional retail video distribution as well as to the educational market.
Under its specialty distribution arm Lorber Films, the company will continue a long tradition of presenting a carefully-curated slate of films each year, including the best of arthouse and foreign language film culled from the world cinema stage.
Through its other specialty label Alive Mind, Lorber HT Digital seeks "aha! response" content with an intellectual pedigree for critical thinkers and enlightened believers alike. Its content specialty is "transformative" programming centered in the domains of spirituality, consciousness, culture and the frontiers of science. Current releases under the Alive Mind label include the documentary film on the generation-changing stage sensation Hair: Let the Sun Shine In; Antonio Ferrera and Albert Maysels' landmark documentary, The Gates; John Walter's acclaimed documentary Theater of War featuring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline; Intangible Asset #82, Emma Franz' electrifying debut documentary about Australian drummer Simon Barker's search for his muse, Korean Shaman Kim Seok-Chul; Fierce Light, Velcrow Ripper's groundbreaking documentary film and odyssey on spiritual activism, the Palestinian-Israeli comedy sensation Arab Labor, and other titles soon to be announced. Alive Mind titles are released to the theatrical, educational, and direct-to-consumer and traditional retail DVD markets. Visit our site at www.AliveMind.net.
Lorber HT Digital also partners with producers of non-fiction television and feature documentaries that appeal to wider audiences. The company seeks distinguished projects that tell captivating stories, focus on unique individuals, and engage universal themes. It represents such programs worldwide for traditional television and DVD licensing as well as co-production financing. Visit our site at LorberHTDigital.com
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Media contact: Julia Pacetti, juliapacetti@earthlink.net, (917) 584-7846
Company to release Aleksandr Sokurov’s epic humanistic portrait of the Japanese people and their Emperor at the end of WWIICannes, France – May 14, 2009 – Richard Lorber announced in Cannes today that Lorber HT Digital has acquired all U.S. rights to THE SUN, the third feature film in Aleksandr Sokurov’s (Russian Ark, Aleksandra) “Dictator Trilogy” focusing on Japanese emperor Hirohito and his climactic surrender to General MacArthur at the end of World War II. The deal was negotiated by Joy Wong, Head of U.K.-based The Works International and Richard Lorber and Ray Privett, Director of Sales and Distribution, on behalf of Lorber HT Digital for release by the company’s theatrical releasing arm, Lorber Films.
THE SUN will premiere theatrically at New York’s Film Forum in November followed by a national release continuing into 2010.
Richard Lorber states, “We have been pursuing this remarkable film for over three years and are delighted to finally make it available to long time Sokurov fans who have been clamoring for it as well as film lovers who may be new to his oeuvre. Since Russian Ark which was released by my former company every new Sokurov is an event but THE SUN we believe will shine the brightest.”
The first two films in Sokurov’s trilogy are Moloch (1999), about Hitler and Eva Braun and Taurus (2001), which focused on Vladmir Lenin at the end of his life. THE SUN is the first in the series to enjoy a U.S. theatrical release. Ranked by Sight and Sound as one of the Top Ten Films of 2005, THE SUN was a nominee for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and has played many prestigious festival dates garnering awards around the world.
In the summer of 1945, with Tokyo under siege by American forces, Japanese Emperor Hirohito remains in seclusion from the world in an underground bunker. Held by his people as a deity, the incarnation of the Sun God, Hirohito is sheltered from the devastation that surrounds him as he is waited on hand and foot by his servants. After the razing of Tokyo and bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hirohito finally meets with General MacArthur. And, in August, millions of Japanese citizens are stunned to hear the voice of their Emperor for the first time as he commands his people to cease all fighting. The address saves the lives of countless Japanese and Allied forces alike, but the victorious powers insist that Emperor Hirohito appear before a military tribunal for war crimes. Sokurov’s fascinating film chronicles the events leading up to Hirohito’s monumental speech, the historic renunciation of his divine status and his meetings with General MacArthur, who advises his own President not to declare the Japanese leader a war criminal. Featuring a power-house central performance by Issey Ogata (Yi Yi), Sokurov creates an intimate human portrait of the infamous Emperor Hirohito as he faces the unraveling of his own power, and the tragedy that besets his country.
In an interview with the British Film Institute, director Aleksandr Sokurov, who spent ten years researching the film in Japan, states, “This is not a documentary and not a political film…We all know what happened to Japan: Japan was very aggressive, invaded other countries and had to pay the price. What I was interested in was the art, the life and the people…Only gradually did I start to understand this character. I was attracted by this person as an individual and as a historical figure but I was also attracted by the fact that he existed in specific and very unusual surroundings. I suddenly saw the image of a person who is a humanist but is directly connected to war, murder, massacre and evil. So the situation was close to mythology.”
About Lorber Films
Lorber Films is the theatrical and DVD releasing arm of Lorber HT Digital, that specializes in award-winning international films, classics and documentary features. Upcoming releases include Tony Manero, the highly-anticipated Chilean film by Pablo Larraín which played at the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2008, and Sundance Film Festival favorite Nollywood Babylon, about the burgeoning, homegrown Nigerian film industry. Both films will launch with theatrical releases this summer in New York. Lorber Films, the successor to Richard Lorber’s previous theatrical releasing companies Fox Lorber Films (which subsequently became Wellspring) and Koch Lorber Films, plans eight to ten theatrical releases per year with an additional ten to twelve DVD releases per year.
Media contact & Julia Pacetti
screener requests: juliapacetti@earthlink.net, (917) 584-7846
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Company to release award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper’s feature documentary on Spiritual ActivismNew York, NY – April 29, 2009 – Lorber HT Digital has acquired all U.S. rights to FIERCE LIGHT: WHEN SPIRIT MEETS ACTION, a breakthrough feature documentary from Velcrow Ripper that premieres as an official selection next week at Hot Docs, the international documentary festival in Toronto. Ripper is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker best known for Scared Sacred – Winner, Special Jury Prize, Toronto Film Festival, and Bones of the Forest – Winner, Best of the Festival, Hot Docs. The deal was negotiated by Christina Rogers for the National Film Board of Canada and by Richard Lorber and Elizabeth Sheldon on behalf of Lorber HT Digital for release on their specialty label, Alive Mind. Also at Hot Docs will be another recently announced Lorber acquisition, INTANGIBLE ASSET #82, Emma Franz’ electrifying debut documentary about Australian drummer Simon Barker’s search for his muse, Korean Shaman Kim Seok-Chul.
FIERCE LIGHT will open theatrically at select venues in the second quarter of this year. At the same time Alive Mind Education will offer it with public performance rights to educational and cultural institutions. Consumers will be able to purchase DVD’s for home use at the end of 2009 or early 2010.
Lorber HT Digital will offer both FIERCE LIGHT and INTANGIBLE ASSET #82 to the public from MyFilmblog.com, a Lorber HT Digital affiliate. MyFilmBlog.com is a new online social networking platform where filmmakers can interact directly with their audience, and users can join the community and watch films on demand from home or on the go. Visitors may purchase a seven day VOD ticket and apply the cost to the purchase of the DVD when released directly from Alive Mind’s website. The two films will be available via VOD effective immediately, giving viewers across America a chance to actively participate in the Hot Docs festival experience and support the filmmakers. VOD tickets will remain available throughout the theatrical and DVD release of each film.
Industry pioneer Richard Lorber states, “FIERCE LIGHT embodies the Alive Mind label: spiritual activism transforming our world. We are proud to be releasing this definitive film and working with Velcrow who has set the highest standard in this genre. By offering FIERCE LIGHT via video-on-demand, we are reaching beyond the Hot Docs audience to Velcrow’s fan base and the wide community that embraces his message of transformation through action in the digital age.”
Velcrow Ripper adds, “I am thrilled to be working with Alive Mind on the release of FIERCE LIGHT. The philosophy that guides their collection is ideal for a film such as mine, which explores spiritual activism and the transformation of our world one person at a time. Their distribution approach, which taps into the same kind of DIY people power that drove Obama into office, represents the future of independent film distribution. I look forward to working closely with them to help build a movement around this film.”
FIERCE LIGHT: WHEN SPIRIT MEETS ACTION is inspired by the death of director Velcrow Ripper’s friend, media activist Brad Will. Brad was shot to death in Oaxaca, Mexico while videotaping protests against State Governor, Ulises Ruiz, who employed violence in an effort to subdue a peaceful protest by striking teachers. From Mexico, Velcrow circumnavigates the world, asking how peaceful activism, which has inspired so much of his work, can still be effective in our ruthless socio-political environment.
FIERCE LIGHT: WHEN SPIRIT MEETS ACTION is a National Film Board of Canada/Fierce Light Film co-production, and was executive produced by Mark Achbar (The Corporation – Winner, Audience Award, Sundance 2004). The film features such luminaries as Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Alice Walker; Buddhist peace-activist monk Thich Nhat Hanh; famed tree-sitter Julia Butterfly Hill; Hollywood celebrity turned spiritual activist Daryl Hannah; dharma punk, Noah Levine, and many more.
Synopsis
In these times of crisis, there is an electric charge in the air, a burgeoning renewal amongst both people who have focused their lives on the spiritual, and those whose lives are centered around the struggle for change. Featuring Velcrow Ripper’s stunning cinematography, a compelling soundtrack, and dramatic stories of resistance and transformation, FIERCE LIGHT: WHEN SPIRIT MEETS ACTION is a feature documentary that captures this exciting movement of Spiritual Activism that is exploding around the planet and the powerful personalities who are igniting it.
Fueled by the belief that “another world” is possible, Ripper seeks out today’s stories of what Martin Luther King called “Love in Action,” and what Gandhi called “Soul Force.” Ripper calls this uncompromisingly non-violent phenomenon “Fierce Light,” and attests that it is this very spirit that swept Barack Obama into the White House. This is a film that reveals what is possible when human beings, faced with a world in crisis, rise to their absolute best.
About Alive Mind
Alive Mind releases documentary programming in the areas of enlightened consciousness and cultural transformation. Alive Mind was launched by industry pioneer Richard Lorber as a specialty distribution arm of his new company, Lorber HT Digital. The company seeks to provide its audience with intellectually provocative work from leading filmmakers that delivers the “aha” response of a transformative experience. Current releases include the documentary film on the generation-changing stage sensation Hair: Let the Sun Shine In; Academy Award®-winning director Jessica Yu’s Protagonist; and, the internationally acclaimed FLicKeR about Brion Gysin, visionary artist and beat generation inventor of the “Dreamachine.” Alive Mind’s upcoming releases include Antonio Ferrera and Albert Maysles’ landmark documentary, The Gates; John Walter’s critically-hailed documentary Theater of War featuring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline; Sundance Film Festival favorite Nollywood Babylon, about the burgeoning Nigerian film industry.
Media contact & Julia Pacetti
screener requests: juliapacetti@earthlink.net, (917) 584-7846
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