Company to release Aleksandr Sokurov’s epic humanistic portrait of the Japanese people and their Emperor at the end of WWII

Cannes, 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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New 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

Long time MIP veteran Richard Lorber formed a new company last year, Lorber HT Digital, and has now launched its Alive Mind label for the release of documentaries to the North American theatrical, video, digital and educational markets. Coming to MIP for his 27th year, Lorber announces deals with the National Film Board of Canada for three award-winning feature documentaries: Fierce Light (Hot Docs 2009), Velcrow Rippers investigation of spiritual activism; the astonishing survey of the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood Babylon (Sundance 2009); and the classic "Tibetan Book of the Dead," narrated by Leonard Cohen.

From Dr. Reiner Moritz's Poorhouse International, the company has acquired the acclaimed 2008 film of the theatre production "Mabou Mines Dollhouse," based on Ibsen's play, reinterpreted for modern audiences. Continuing in the theatre vein, Alive Mind has pacted with esteemed French producer and archive, INA for the timely documentary, "HAIR: Let the Sun Shine In" ; the company is releasing it in theatres and on video just as the original musical has reopened on Broadway. From U.S. sales agent Forward Entertainment, Alive Mind is also releasing another important stage-based documentary, Theater of War Starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline-- a masterful interpretation of Brecht's epic war indictment, Mother Courage and Her Children.

Finally, with an eye toward theatrical release Lorber will bring the latest from legendary documentarian Albert Maysles and HBO, The Gates. Thirty years in the making, the film chronicles the journey of world-renowned artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude to achieve the transformation of Central Park with their visionary installation, which drew over 4 million visitors.

"Our strategy," comments Lorber, "is focused on expanding the market for quality documentaries through targeted cross-platform distribution. We release our films theatrically in cinemas but also through non-traditional screening venues, such as museums and community centers. This builds cumulative critical reputation and establishes value when we offer our titles to universities, libraries and eventually to consumers, via all video, retail and digital platforms."

Lorber's Alive Mind catalog now includes over fifty curatorially significant titles in categories he describes as "transformative": arts, religion and spirituality, and cultural change. Lorber and his colleague Elizabeth Sheldon will be scouring the aisles of MIP TV seeking to acquire twenty to thirty new titles to release in the coming year to the North American theatrical, educational and video markets.

Theatrical rollout of acclaimed music documentary to follow festival debut on March 14

New York, NY - March 12, 2009 - Lorber HT Digital has acquired all North American rights to the much anticipated documentary INTANGIBLE ASSET #82, the directorial debut of Australian jazz singer Emma Franz. The film will enjoy its North American premiere on March 14th at the 2009 South by South West Film Festival (SXSW) in the 24 Beats Per Second section. The deal was negotiated by Emma Franz for In The Sprocket Productions and by Richard Lorber and Elizabeth Sheldon for Lorber HT Digital.

Lorber HT Digital will open INTANGIBLE ASSET #82 theatrically at select venues in the second quarter of this year, and will also make it available to educational and cultural institutions. After the initial theatrical release, the Company will release the DVD to the consumer market on its soon to be announced music related label later in 2009.

Richard Lorber comments on the acquisition, "In the true tradition of transformative filmmaking, Emma Franz has documented an artist's personal odyssey that results in a universal cultural epiphany. INTANGIBLE ASSET #82 is that rare work of alchemy where the power of music and film combine to transform character and transport an audience through art. We expect it to achieve a high degree of critical recognition and find a wide audience."

About The Film

In her debut film, director Emma Franz captures the creative odyssey of Australian drummer Simon Barker in search of his muse, Korean Shaman Kim Seok-Chul - a Grand Master in his seventies who plays with immense energy and complex technique. After hearing a rare recording of Kim Seok-Chul's music, Barker knew right away that he was listening to one of the world's greatest improvisers. So unique, in fact, is the artistry of the Shaman that the Korean Government bestowed upon him the honorary title "Intangible Asset Number 82," recognizing him as the pre-eminent practitioner, Grand Master and protector of his art form. Intrigued, Barker commits to find and learn from the enigmatic master. Yet Kim Seok-Chul proves elusive, despite the fame accompanying his official honor as being South Korea's 82nd Intangible Asset.

Despite seven years of setbacks and obstacles, and with the Shaman now in his eighties, Barker's commitment intensifies and he returns to Korea for the seventeenth time. Imbued with a sense of destiny, the journey becomes a rite of passage as Barker experiences life-changing encounters with the engaging and exotic characters who eventually lead him to the Shaman. INTANGIBLE ASSET #82 is a true testimony to the universal language of music and its transformative power.

Read more about the film here.

New York, NY - March 12, 2009 - Lorber HT Digital has acquired the U.S. theatrical rights and public performance rights to the acclaimed documentary NOLLYWOOD BABYLON, co-directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, on the heels of the film's U.S. premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition. The deal was negotiated by Christina Rogers for the National Film Board and by Richard Lorber and Elizabeth Sheldon for Lorber HT Digital.

Lorber HT Digital will open NOLLYWOOD BABYLON theatrically at select venues in the second quarter of this year, and will also make it available to educational and cultural institutions. After the initial theatrical release, Lorber HT Digital will release the DVD to the consumer market on its Alive Mind label later in 2009.

Industry pioneer Richard Lorber, founder of Lorber HT Digital, comments on the acquisition, "NOLLYWOOD BABYLON celebrates the power of film to transform a culture and an industry. The explosion of Nigerian cinema over the last two decades is the reclaiming of African story-telling and culture by and for Africans. Nigeria is the new cultural center of Africa and Nollywood is the epicenter."

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times calls the film, "...an irresistible treatise on the Nigerian film industry..."

About The Film

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. Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, known in Lagos as "Da Governor," is one of the most influential men in Nollywood. Undeterred by miniscule budgets, Da Governor is one of a cadre of resourceful filmmakers creating a garish, imaginative, and wildly popular form of B-movie that has frenzied fans begging for more. Among the bustling stalls of Lagos's Idumato market, films are sold, and budding stars are born. Creating stories that explore the growing battle between traditional mysticism and modern culture, good versus evil, witchcraft and Christianity, Nollywood auteurs have mastered a down-and-dirty, straight-to-video production formula that has become the industry standard in a country plagued by poverty. This burgeoning Nigerian film industry is tapping a national identity where proud Africans are telling their own stories to a public hungry to see their lives on screen. 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.

Read more about the film here.