The Indian feature Writing With Fire, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, will be available on DVD April 26 from Music Box Films.
In the film, reporting from a social environment built to divide based on caste and gender, a fearless group of journalists maintain India’s only women-led news outlet. The women of Khabar Lahariya (“Waves of News”), all from the Dalit (“untouchables”) caste, prepare to transition the newspaper from print to digital even though many of their reporters don’t have access to electricity at home. Armed with smartphones, chief reporter Meera and her team of investigative journalists confront some of India’s biggest issues — exposing the relentless discrimination against women and amplifying the voices of those who suffer from the oppressive caste system.
The film chronicles the astonishing determination of these local reporters as they empower each other and hold those responsible for injustice to account.
Bonus features include “Firemaking: The Story of Writing With Fire,” a filmmaker Q&A from the DOCNYC premiere, deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.
Saudi Arabian filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour explores the changing roles of women in Saudi Arabia in The Perfect Candidate, which arrives on DVD and VOD June 29 from Music Box Films.
The film follows a young female doctor (Mila Alzahraniwho) who runs as her town’s first female candidate for city council after she is denied from flying to Dubai for a conference without a male guardian’s approval. She seeks help from a politically connected cousin but inadvertently registers as a candidate for the municipal election, then takes on the challenge hoping fix the muddy road in front of her clinic. However, her creative and ambitious campaign soon garners broader appeal, becoming a symbol for a larger movement.
The Perfect Candidate is presented in Arabic with English subtitles. DVD extras include a director’s commentary, a making-of featurette, and a Cinema Cafe discussion from Sundance with Haifaa Al Mansour and Egyptian humorist Bassem Youssef.
Music Box Films specialty label Doppelganger Releasing July 13 presents The Monster Collection, a three-disc Blu-ray set containing the feature-length documentaries Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters and The Frankenstein Complex.
Both films are directed by Alexandre Poncet and Gilles Penso.
Released in 2019, Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters examines the life and career of Phil Tippett, the Oscar and Emmy Award-winning visual effects genius whose work in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation has been seen in such classics as the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the “Jurassic Park” and “Twilight” franchises, and the effects powerhouses RoboCop, Dragonheart and Starship Troopers.
The Frankenstein Complex, from 2015, offers an appreciation of the greatest movie monsters in film history and the talented effects artists who have been bringing them to life for the past century. The film goes behind the scenes of such classics as King Kong, Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, An American Werewolf in London, Alien and more to talk to the filmmakers responsible, including Rick Baker, Greg Nicotero, Chris Wallas, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Verhoeven, Joe Dante, John Landis, Kevin Smith and others.
Music Box Films will release the inspirational film Edie on DVD and VOD Dec. 3.
Directed by Simon Hunter, the drama earned $55,202 in limited theatrical release.
Following the death of her husband, Edie (Sheila Hancock) breaks free from years of his control and rebels against her daughter’s wish for her to move into assisted living by embarking on an adventure she and her father had always longed for: a trip to the Scottish Highlands to climb the world famous Mt. Suilven. Along the way, she hires young camping shop owner Jonny to be her guide. Despite the generational differences, Jonny (Kevin Guthrie) encourages Edie to fulfill her dream.
The Indian feature Writing With Fire, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, will be available on DVD April 26 from Music Box Films.
Music Box Films specialty label Doppelganger Releasing July 13 presents The Monster Collection, a three-disc Blu-ray set containing the feature-length documentaries Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters and The Frankenstein Complex.
Music Box Films will release the inspirational film Edie on DVD and VOD Dec. 3.