Ken Burns' The Vietnam War on DVD/BD in September

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing the new documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick THE VIETNAM WAR on DVD and Blu-ray September 19, 2017, coinciding with its PBS airing. In an immersive narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. THE VIETNAM WAR features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.

Ten years in the making, the series brings the war and the chaotic epoch it encompassed viscerally to life. Written by Geoffrey C. Ward, produced by Sarah Botstein, Novick and Burns, it includes rarely seen, digitally re-mastered archival footage from sources around the globe, photographs taken by some of the most celebrated photojournalists of the 20th century, historic television broadcasts, evocative home movies, and revelatory audio recordings from inside the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations.

The run time of the program is approximately 1080 minutes on 10 discs. The SRP for the DVD is $99.99 and $129.99 for Blu-ray. There are over 100 minutes of extra bonus footage, including a 45-minute preview program, 2 pieces on contemporary lives of 2 of the participants, and bonus content. The program will also be available for digital download.

John Lewis- Get in the Way on DVD april 18

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “JOHN LEWIS – GET IN THE WAY” for home entertainment on DVD. This is the first documentary biography of Lewis, whose unwavering fight for justice spans the past 50 years. The son of sharecroppers, Lewis grew up in rural isolation, seemingly destined for a bleak future in the Jim Crow South. But Lewis took a different path, rising from Alabama’s Black Belt to the corridors of power on Capitol Hill, his humble origins forever linking him to those whose voices often go unheard.

“JOHN LEWIS – GET IN THE WAY ” will be available on April 18, 2017. The run time of the DVD is approximately 60 minutes and its SRP is $24.99.

The program covers more than half a century, tracing Lewis’ journey of courage, confrontation and hard-won triumphs. At the age of 15, his life changed forever when he heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the radio. It was 1955, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Lewis listened with rapt attention as the young preacher called for nonviolent resistance to the harsh injustice of segregation. Lewis embraced Dr. King’s spiritual call with a fervor that would transform the course of his life.

David Byrne's Contemporary Color Documentary, in Theatres March 3

The trailer for David Byrne's Contemporary Color documentary - to be released theatrically
on March 3rd by Department of Motion Pictures and Oscilloscope Laboratories, has been released today. In the summer of 2015,  David Byrne staged an event at Brooklyn's Barclays Center to celebrate the creativity of Color Guard: synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles, and sabers, colloquially known as "the sport of the arts."

Watch the trailer for Contemporary Color, below.

Byrne recruited performers including the likes of St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Devonté Hynes, Zola Jesus, Ad-Rock, tUnE-yArDs, and Ira Glass to collaborate on original pieces with 10 color guard teams from across the US and Canada.

The result is CONTEMPORARY COLOR, a bold and irrepressible snapshot of a one-of-a-kind
live performance.

Seasons Arrives on DVD/BD on Febr 21

The mesmerizing documentary SEASONS by filmmakers Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaudis an awe-inspiring and thought-provoking visual tale of the long and tumultuous shared history that inextricably binds humankind with the natural world.

Music Box Films Home Entertainment is releasing this final episode in the breathtakingly filmed trilogy of Air, Sea, and now – Land. After traveling the world alongside migrating birds (2001’s Winged Migration) and diving the oceans with whales and manta rays (2009’s Oceans), Perrin and Cluzaud return to more familiar ground: the lush green forests and land animals that emerged across Europe following the last Ice Age.

After the great thaw following an 80,000-year winter, SEASONS sets its focus on the "Golden Age" of the forest, when wolves, lynx, bison, stags, bears, bear cubs, and birds and bugs of every species occupied their new kingdom. It was only later that man arrived to share this habitat, first tentatively as migratory hunter/gatherers, then making inroads in the forest as agriculturalists, and later (and more dramatically) via industry and warfare.

NATURE: THE STORY OF CATS” to DVD/BD in December

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “NATURE: THE STORY OF CATS” on DVD and Blu-ray. Cats are one of the most diverse and studied mammals in the world, yet only now is their real identity being understood. Evolutionary tricks and adaptations have contributed to their successful survival. In fact, all 37 species of the cat family behave similarly in the way they hunt, utilizing flexible spines and sharp teeth to catch their prey. No surprise, then, that they are one of the greatest predators since the dinosaurs and are still evolving.

“NATURE: THE STORY OF CATS ” chronicles the 11 million year history of how the most widespread carnivore on the planet evolved, from their roots in ancient rainforests to today’s popular house cat. The latest discoveries by scientists studying their physiology and behaviors are also incorporated into the series.

 “NATURE: THE STORY OF CATS” will be available on DVD and Blu-ray December 27, 2016. The run time of the program is approximately 120 minutes and the DVD SRP is $24.99 and the Blu-ray SRP 29.99. The program will also be available for digital download.

The first episode, Asia to Africa, shows how the first cats arose in the rainforests of Southeast Asia and moved throughout the continent adjusting to other environments such as high altitudes (snow leopard, Pallas’s cat) and frozen forests (Siberian tigers). The film introduces the most ancient type of cat existing today, the rare clouded leopard, whose genetic blueprint is shared by all cats. Learning how to become ambush predators through play is one of the crucial traits that all young members of the cat family must develop in order to survive in the wild. Cubs of species like the clouded leopard don’t have much time to master these skills before their mother forces them out to find their own territories as solitary predators. It is one of the reasons that around nine million years ago, the ancient tree climbing felines began to fan out all over Asia.

"Building Star Trek" Out on DVD November 1 from PBS

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing the Smithsonian Channel original special “BUILDING STAR TREK” on DVD. When Star Trek debuted on September 8, 1966, the world was introduced to a number of alien concepts, such as hand-held communication devices, desktop computers, space shuttles, touch screens, and more. Star Trek’s visionary creator Gene Roddenberry conceived of a world so unique that the series would go on to have a profound legacy in television history.

“BUILDING STAR TREK” follows the conservation team from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, led by Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, as they attempt to restore and conserve the original 11-foot, 250-pound model of the U.S.S. Enterprise from the original series. The program also tracks the progress of Brooks Peck, the charismatic curator of Seattle’s EMP Museum, as he attempts to rebuild a model of the original U.S.S. Enterprise’s bridge by using authentic set pieces and props.

 “BUILDING STAR TREK” will be available on DVD November 1, 2016. The run time of the program is approximately 92 minutes, and the SRP is $19.99.

Royal Wives at War, on dvd October 18

PBS Distribution announced today it will release “ROYAL WIVES AT WAR” on DVD. In a series of dramatized monologues set in 1967, Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Emma Davies, Emmerdale) and Wallis Simpson (Gina McKee, The Borgias) look back at events that led King Edward VIII (Nick Waring, The Merchant of Venice) to give up the throne for the woman he loved. Combining dramatic reconstructions, archives and a chorus of acquaintances and biographers, ROYAL WIVES AT WAR tells the intimate and moving story of two strong women and the friction that characterized their relationship.

 

ROYAL WIVES explores not only the scandalous love story, but also the emotional impact of the post-abdication fallout: how Wallis regretted a marriage she now couldn’t avoid and how Elizabeth, miserable at becoming Queen Consort, schemed to ostracize and exile both Edward and Wallis. Upon the outbreak of war, the British government was forced to step in, banishing the Windsors to the then-sleepy backwater of the Bahamas. Elizabeth became the power behind the throne during the war years while Wallis lashed out bitterly from afar. “ROYAL WIVES AT WAR” is a BBC production with PBS.

Romance Fiction Doc "Love Between the Covers" Out September 27

Romance fiction is the behemoth of the publishing industry; it outsells mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy combined. Yet no filmmaker has ever taken an honest look at the global community romance writers and readers have built - until now.
This funny and inspiring look into a billion-dollar industry turns up trailblazers who've found fortunes and fulfillment in romance, who are on the front lines of a revolutionary power shift in publishing. Creating online empires and inventing new markets are authors like pioneer of African American romance Beverly Jenkins, Shakespeare professor and romance rockstar Eloisa James, surgeon and lesbian romance legend Len Barot, and the incomparable Nora Roberts.

For three years, we follow the lives of five published romance authors and one unpublished newbie as they build their businesses, find and lose loved ones, cope with upheaval, and earn a living doing what they love. In the process, we discover a global storytelling sisterhood.
Love Between the Covers takes us into one of the few spaces where strong female characters are always center stage, where justice prevails in every book, and the broad spectrum of desires of women from all backgrounds are not feared, but explored unapologetically.

DEFYING THE NAZIS: SHARPS’ WAR” on DVD September 20

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “DEFYING THE NAZIS: SHARPS’ WAR”, a new documentary co-directed by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky on DVD. This is the story of a little-known but important mission by an American minister and his wife to rescue refugees and dissidents in Europe before and after the start of World War II.

“DEFYING THE NAZIS: SHARPS’ WAR” will be available on DVD September 20^th, 2016. The run time of the program is approximately 90 minutes on 1 disc, and the SRP is $24.99. The program will also be available for digital download.   

The film tells the story of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, who left their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly committed to multiple life-threatening missions in Europe. Over two dangerous years they helped to save hundreds of imperiled political dissidents and refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation across Europe.

The story is cinematically told through the letters and journals of the Sharps, with Tom Hanks as the voice of Waitstill and Marina Goldman as the voice of Martha. It features firsthand interviews with the now adult children whom the Sharps saved, as well as leading historians, authors and Holocaust scholars, including William Schulz, Deborah Dwork, Modecai Paldiel, Ghanda DiFiglia and Yehuda Bauer.

PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT to DVD on October 25th

 PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT presents a feature-length chronicle about the life of Peggy Guggenheim, the collector, gallerist and Guggenheim family heiress who became a leading figure in the modern art movement as she assembled one of the world’s great troves of modern art and releases on DVD on October 25, 2016 from Music Box Home Entertainment.

The second feature directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel), PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT reveals Guggenheim to be a remarkably vibrant character who was not only ahead of her time but helped to define it. As she moved through the cultural upheaval of the 20th century, she collected not only art, but artists. Her colorful personal history included trysts, affairs and marriages with such figures as Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Marcel Duchamp as well as many others. While also fighting through personal tragedy, she maintained her vision to build one of the most important collections of modern art, which is today enshrined in her famous Venetian palazzo. Ultimately, PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT gives stunning insight into modern art and its most illustrious figures, while celebrating the formidable woman who brought them to fame.

KOKO: THE GORILLA WHO TALKS, out now on DVD

PBS Distribution released “KOKO: THE GORILLA WHO TALKS” on DVD. It’s been more than 40 years since Koko, the only “talking” gorilla in the world, captivated the public with her uncanny ability to communicate with humans. Her unique life, which she continues to share with Penny Patterson, the psychologist who adopted her as a baby, is revisited in-depth in this new documentary.

The program takes viewers back to 1971, when Project Koko started as Penny Patterson’s Ph.D. assignment to teach sign language to a baby gorilla. As Koko began to communicate with Penny, an intense bond formed between them and the teacher transformed into both mother figure and companion for more than four decades. The public’s fascination with Koko made her a star.

“KOKO: THE GORILLA WHO TALKS” is available now on DVD, out  August 9, 2016. The run time of the program is approximately 60 minutes and has an SRP of $24.99. The program will also be available for digital download.
Koko’s unique life has been filmed every step of the way; more than 2,000 hours of footage exist, capturing the dramatic moments, many of which appear in this film, including Penny’s battle to keep Koko from being reclaimed by the zoo where she was born, Penny’s clash with academic critics who doubt the validity of her claims, the founding of The Gorilla Foundation, and the image of Koko mourning the death of her kitten – a moment that bought her international fame. 

“KOKO: THE GORILLA WHO TALKS” is presented as part of a multi-title co-production deal among PBS, BBC and BBC Worldwide North America. The partnership provides a pipeline of the high-quality, entertaining factual programs that PBS and BBC audiences have come to expect.


KOKO: THE GORILLA WHO TALKS
Street Date: August 9, 2016
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 60 minutes
SRP: DVD $24.99
Format: DVD

Norman Lear:Just Another Version of You to DVD/BD on October 25

Largely responsible for bold American television in the 1970s, Norman Lear’s name is synonymous with the sitcom. From his childhood and early career with his groundbreaking TV success (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude) and social activism, Lear proved social change was possible through an unlikely prism–laughter–and created some of the greatest moments in television history.


Prebook Date: September 27
Street Date: October 25
PBS National Broadcast Dates: Tuesday, October 25
 DVD: $24.99, Approx. 90 min
Item# (AMM62907), UPC (841887029353), ISBN (9781627897976)
Blu-ray: $29.99, Approx. 90 min
Item# (AM62907B), UPC (841887029360), ISBN (9781627897983)

Nina Simone Documentary to get September dvd, bd, cd release!

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best #Documentary at the 2016 Oscars, Best Music Film at the 2016 Grammy Awards, and winning Best Documentary at the American Film Institute Awards in 2016, documentary film What Happened, Miss Simone? connected with critics and fans alike with its deep examination of the legendary Nina Simone. On September 2, 2016, Eagle Rock Entertainment will present this film as a DVD+CD and Blu-ray+CD with additional bonus interviews not included in the main film. [MSRP $26.98 Blu-ray+CD, $21.98 DVD+CD]

What Happened, Miss Simone? is the story of Nina Simone’s life and career. Through archive interview and extensive performance footage, alongside new interviews with family, friends and colleagues, the film paints a fascinating portrait of this complex and challenging artist.

Nina Simone was many things: pianist, singer, songwriter, performer, civil rights campaigner, wife and mother, victim of abuse, and black icon. Growing up in the segregated American South, she began to learn piano at age 4, attended the Juilliard School Of Music in New York and aspired to a career as a concert pianist. Thwarted in this, allegedly because of her color, she began to play in nightclubs to earn money and her career as a jazz and blues performer was born. The film follows Nina Simone through the sixties and her intense involvement in the civil rights movement, her decision to relocate to first Africa and then Europe in the early seventies, her emotional difficulties in the eighties, and her later years in France in the nineties.

"FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS” on DVD in August

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS” on DVD. “They came out of nowhere.” That was the common refrain when ISIS captured the world’s attention by seizing large swaths of Iraq, declaring an Islamic caliphate, and initiating a series of deadly terrorist attacks around the globe, including those in Paris and Brussels. But the program reveals in grim detail, the emergence of the brutal terrorist group should not have been a surprise — especially to the U.S. government.

“FRONTLINE: THE SECRET HISTORY OF ISIS ” will be available on DVD August 9, 2016. The run time of the program is approximately 60 minutes and the SRP is $24.99.

Going behind the headlines, the film shows how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a one-time thug turned jihadi leader, was able to outmaneuver the American government for a time and build a brutal terrorist organization that would destabilize the Middle East and inflict violence around the world.

"Miss Sharon Jones! " Doc about Soul Singer Sharon Jones to Get July Theatrical, and 2016 Home Vid Release

 Rolling Stone reports a documentary film  about soul singer Sharon Jones' life, career and ongoing cancer battle is heading to movie theaters. The Barbara Kopple-directed Miss Sharon Jones!, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and screened at SXSW Film last year, will open a theatrical run July 29th following by a home video release in the fall.

The film follows Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings during a tumultuous year as the singer, on the verge of releasing a new album and embarking on a tour, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Miss Sharon Jones! captures Jones' cancer battle and, ultimately, her return to the stage. The documentary also shows how the Dap-Kings were nearly torn apart during that tumultuous period.

In addition to two-time Oscar winner Kopple's landmark 1976 documentary Harlan County, USA, the filmmaker has also crafted music-related films like Wild Man Blues, about Woody Allen's love of music, My Generation about the Woodstock festivals and the Dixie Chicks' Shut Up & Sing. 

Back in September 2015, Jones revealed that her cancer had returned, but the singer and her backing band continued to tour steadily even as she underwent chemotherapy. "I'm going to do what I have to do. I'm going to sing," the singer said at the premiere of Miss Sharon Jones! at TIFF, promising that her diagnosis won't prevent her from "giving the people what they want."

NOVA: Wild Ways Out in July on DVD from PBS

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “NOVA: WILD WAYS” on DVD. Four-lane highways may be a necessity to our modern society, but they can be death traps for millions of animals that try to cross them. Wildlife the world over need to roam for breeding, foraging, and to carry out their traditional migrations; but they are often blocked by ranches, farms, roads, and other human-made obstacles. While national parks and preserves offer some protection to wildlife, even the magnificent Serengeti and Yellowstone parks are too small to sustain healthy populations over generations.

But now comes new hope for wildlife through an approach called “connectivity conservation.” The program reveals through stunning cinematography how some of the world’s most beloved species; lions, bears, antelope and elephants, can be preserved by linking the world’s wildlife refuges with tunnels, overpasses, and protected land corridors.

“NOVA: WILD WAYS” will be available on DVD July 12, 2016. The run time of the DVD is approximately 60 minutes and its SRP is $24.99.

PRINCE PHILIP: THE PLOT TO MAKE A KING Set for June DVD Release

Public Media Distribution, LLC announced today it is releasing “PRINCE PHILIP: THE PLOT TO MAKE A KING” on DVD, produced by Blakeway Productions and internationally distributed by DRG. For the first time the inside story of the fierce dynastic tensions that were unleashed when the Queen fell in love with Prince Philip – tensions that would place huge strain on the royal marriage, and would shape the future of Elizabeth’s reign.

Young Philip, it was felt, was “rough, ill-mannered, uneducated and would probably not be faithful,” according to one courtier. The royal and political elite disliked his German roots – and they disliked his larger than life, ferociously ambitious uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten. Philips’s German links were a source of anxiety for Elizabeth’s parents. The present Queen’s mother is reported to have privately referred to Philip as ‘The Hun.’

“PRINCE PHILIP: THE PLOT TO MAKE A KING” will be available on DVD June 28, 2016. The run time of the series is approximately 60 minutes and the SRP is $24.99.

The film features an interview with Philip’s nephew, Prince Rainer von Hessen of Monaco, who shares the unpublished memoirs of his mother; Philip’s sister. In them she describes a private lunch with Hitler and her initial admiration for him. Her husband would become an SS colonel, and the head of one of the Nazi intelligence agencies; explaining much of the hostility Philip would suffer in Britain.

"NOVA: CAN ALZHEIMER’S BE STOPPED?” Releasing on DVD from PBS

PBS Distribution has announced it is releasing “NOVA: CAN ALZHEIMER’S BE STOPPED?” on DVD. In a new one-hour documentary, NOVA has partnered with Tangled Bank Studios and Holt Productions to transport viewers to the front lines of this fast-paced, life-and-death detective story.

Alzheimer’s disease strikes at the core of what makes us human: our capacity to think, to love and to remember. The cause of Alzheimer’s­ and whether it can be stopped is one of the greatest medical mysteries of our time. Alzheimer’s ravages the minds of over 40 million victims worldwide, stripping them of their memories and often their dignity on a poignant march that can lead to death. Join investigators as they gather clues and attempt to reconstruct the molecular chain of events that ultimately leads to dementia, and follow key researchers in the field who have helped to develop the leading theories of the disease.

Along the way, meet individuals from all walks of life who will reveal what it’s like to struggle with Alzheimer’s. Among them, members of a unique Colombian family who have learned that their genetic predisposition all but guarantees early onset Alzheimer’s— but there may be hope. Join these courageous patients participating in clinical trials, and then go behind the scenes of the major drug trials to see how researchers target and test therapies that may slow and even prevent Alzheimer’s.

ELSTREE 1976, Star Wars Doc In Theatres Now!

ELSTREE 1976 explores the lives of the actors and extras behind one of the most celebrated franchises in cinematic history, which spans from George Lucas' original A NEW HOPE to J.J. Abrams' recent record-breaking blockbuster THE FORCE AWAKENS.

From the man behind film's most iconic villain, to the actor whose character was completely cut from the final film, the documentary delves into the eccentric community these individuals have formed and how the Star Wars franchise continues to impact their lives decades later.  Coming soon to DVD & BD.

"An affectionate tribute to the individuals who played minor, supporting and background parts in the original STAR WARS movie, ELSTREE 1976 entertainingly explores the world of the character actor and bit-part player... A slice of enjoyable nostalgia, capturing a sense of life as silly, surprising, regretful and all too fleeting." - Screen Daily

"Entertaining... This is a genial, humane project with obvious fan appeal." The Hollywood Reporter

The State of Marriage, on DVD June 28

The State of Marriage film, (releasing June 28 from Passion Rive) is the epic story of how legal legend Mary Bonauto partnered with small-town Vermont lawyers Beth Robinson and Susan Murray in a 2-decade struggle that built the foundation for the entire marriage equality movement.

The Hollywood Reporter said, “The State of Marriage is an indispensable addition to the history of the marriage equality movement and a suspenseful nail-biter right up to the feel good ending.” From groundbreaking LGBT legal recognition for same sex couples in 2000, to becoming the first state to enact same sex marriage through a dramatic legislative vote in 2009, the film shows in a very personal way how, as HRC national field director Marty Rouse says, “Beth, Susan and Mary really changed the course of American history.”