Equal Means Equal, On DVD Now

EQUAL MEANS EQUAL is an unflinching look at how women are treated in the United States today. By following both real-life stories and precedent-setting legal cases, director Kamala Lopez discovers how outdated and discriminatory attitudes inform and influence seemingly disparate issues, from workplace matters to domestic violence, rape & sexual assault to the foster case system, the healthcare system, & the legal system. Along the way, she reveals the inadequacy of present laws in place that claim to protect women, ultimately presenting a compelling and persuasive argument for the urgency of ratifying the equal rights amendment.


Director: Kamala Lopez
Runtime: 94 mins.
DVDCat#: PRDVD3335
UPC: 888608665100
Pre-book: 9/6/16
Street: 10/11/16


SRP: $59.95

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For three years, we follow the lives of five published romance authors and one unpublished newbie as they build their businesses, find and lose loved ones, cope with upheaval, and earn a living doing what they love.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.

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.”

Passion River Announces DIFRET DVD Library Release

 

Passion River films has announced the 2/2/16 library exclusive release of DIFRET.  From executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt comes the award-winning drama DIFRET, based on the inspirational true story of a young Ethiopian girl and a tenacious lawyer embroiled in a life-or-death clash between cultural traditions and their country's advancement of equal rights.

 

When 14-year-old Hirut is abducted in her rural village’s tradition of kidnapping women for marriage, she fights back, accidentally killing her captor and intended husband. Local law demands a death sentence for Hirut, but Meaza, a tough and passionate lawyer from a women’s legal aide practice, steps in to fight forher. With both Hirut’s life and the future of the practice at stake, the two women must make their case for self-defense against one of Ethiopia’s oldest and most deeply-rooted traditions. DIFRET paints a portrait of a country in a time of great transformation and the brave individuals ready to help shape it.

Shell Shocked and the Murder Capital of the USA

New Orleans is the murder capital of the United States. For the last decade, statistics have shown murder rates four to six times higher than the national average. Shell Shocked (releasing September 8, 2015 from Passion River) starts at the surface of New Orleans’ murder epidemic and delves

into the hearts and minds of those whose lives are most deeply impacted—the youth who live in fear of violence, the parents who grieve a wound that will never fully heal, and the mentors who are saving lives. The film lays out the big picture of a city plagued by violence; it will describe, in simplified terms, how children’s lives are shaped by family, schools, poverty, and a stressed criminal justice system; and, finally, move to solutions related to individual, community, and administrative choices.


Shell Shocked seeks to boil this situation down to its core: violence is causing unbearable loss, youth need to know that someone cares, and mentoring makes a difference. The film will argue, through the voices of those who are most invested, that this is NOT too complex a problem to address and fix. Though this story is grounded in New Orleans, several voices bridge the connection between New Orleans and other cities where long-term disenfranchisement and access to arms has become a common lethal combination. Shell Shocked is used as a tool to facilitate conversations about the causes and devastating impact of gun violence and to open paths for communication and change.

"The Yes Men are Revolting" Announced for August 25 Release on DVD

For 20 years, notorious activists the Yes Men (Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum) have staged outrageous hoaxes to hijack public dialogue about the issues of the day. In their third cinematic outing (after The Yes Men and The Yes Men Fix the World), they’re well into their 40s, and mid-life crises are threatening to drive them out of activism forever – even as they prepare to take on the biggest challenge yet: climate change. Their latest film, The Yes Men are Revolting,  is as much a character study as it is a thrilling ride depicting their latest interventions against corporate greed.

From villages in Uganda, to toxic oil fields in Canada, these iconoclastic revolutionaries take on big oil, lobbyists, and the U.S. government, armed with nothing but thrift-store suits. Overcoming personal obstacles to deliver uproarious actions of global significance, the Yes Men deliver a hopeful message about ordinary people taking back the planet.

Print the Legend, 3D Printing Doc Arrives on May 5

3D printing is changing the world – from printing guns and human organs, to dismantling the world’s industrial infrastructure by enabling home manufacturing. It’s “the next Industrial Revolution.” With unprecedented access to the visionaries building an industry, Print the Legend follows the people and companies racing to bring 3D printing to your desktop and into your life. For the winners, there are fortunes – and history – to be made. Print the Legend is both the definitive 3D Printing Documentary – capturing a technology in the midst of its “Macintosh Moment” – and a compelling tale about what it takes to live the American Dream in any field.  The doc arrives on DVD and Blu-ray for libraries on May 5, 2015.

Watch the film's trailer below;