Cinema Libre Studio: "ENTER THE FORBIDDEN CITY" [BLU-RAY/DVD]

 

Set in the Qing dynasty 230 years ago, this lush, epic drama brings to life the historical origins of Peking opera through the tale of two young opera singers who risk their lives to perform for the emperor at a special celebration for his 80th birthday.

Directed by Mei HU and written by Zou Jingzhi (Zhang Yimou’s “Coming Home,” Wong Kar Wai’s “The Grandmaster”), the film won the Chinese American Film Festival’s top prizes for best director and best feature film earlier this year and will forgo a planned theatrical release and to be released on Bluray, DVD and On Demand by Cinema Libre Studio starting August 18th.

Based entirely on historical events and figures from the Qing Dynasty, the period in which Peking Opera first began to flourish in Imperial China, the film was developed by Hu Mei over a period of six years. Production was significantly delayed due to a fire that burned down the studio the crew was utilizing, taking two years to complete in 2018.

No sets were designed for the film, which is shot entirely on location, although over 200 hand tailored costumes were created in order to replicate Peking Opera clothing from the Qing Dynasty. Hu is well-known in China for several acclaimed television and film works. Her previous film Confucius, which stars Chow Yun Fat, was released in the US in 2010.

To grasp the history behind the movie, Hu and her team traveled to the mountainous areas of China's Anhui province, where opera played a key part in the education of children.

 

"The role that opera plays here is that it condenses China's thousands of years of music, drama, politics, culture, worldly wisdom and moral principles into various repertoires," says Hu. "The about 1,000 popular opera songs in the area were passed down from parents to children, from generation to generation.”

Made with a budget of about $14.3 million (RMB100 million), it was distributed in China by state-owned Huaxia in theaters.

Yue Jiu, the most famous opera singer in all of Imperial China, is expelled from the capital city for vulgarity. He heads south, where he encounters Wang Runsheng, a promising young opera singer for the Chuntai Troupe. When the Emperor invites all of China’s opera troupes back to the capital city for a celebration, Yue Jiu and Runsheng are forced to choose between their reputations, their safety, and their love of opera.

Website:  EnterTheForbiddenCity.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/EnterTheForbiddenCity
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/380798159
 

Jeremy [Six Strings]

Cinema Libre Studio: "LAND OF LITTLE RIVERS" ON DVD & STREAMING (AMAZON & VIMEO) STARTING MAY 19

The Land of Little Rivers, a network of tributaries in the Catskill Mountains of New York, is the birthplace of fly fishing in America and the mecca for resident and visiting anglers obsessed with the sport.

Fishing legends such as Joan Wulff, the “first lady of fly fishing,” and Dave Brandt, the preeminent fly tier and authority on traditional Catskill fly tying, convey the angler’s passion, from the art of casting the perfect loop, to the sport’s origins where secrets are fiercely guarded by local anglers.

Other personalities include Rachel Finn, head-guide at the Hungry Trout Fly Shop in the Adirondacks, who enjoys whiskey and cigars while instructing both men and women on the famed Ausable River. Expert Delaware River guides, Robert Lewis and Ben Rinker, offer insights into the sport. Marty Yi, an Iraq War veteran and Wounded Warrior, speaks to how the sport literally saved his life. Mike Canazon, who crafts custom bamboo rods, is driven both by a search for excellence and the one that got away.  

Uplifting and warm, this beautifully shot documentary delves into the lives of fly fishers, the wounds they heal, the bonds they form and the history and conservation they preserve in the sport they love.

TRAILER: [CLICK HERE]

Fly-fishing season normally starts in April and although rivers have not been closed due to the coronavirus restrictions, anglers have been pressured to stay away. Says Concors, “Most fly fishermen have been socially distanced their whole fishing life. However, the community is now really hard on people fishing in the same boat and riding with people during these days of COVID.  As a nonessential business, guides are not allowed to have clients, so the economic impact is affecting them as well. Numerous fishing resorts and conservation organizations are urging people to not fish with others and for out-of-towners to stay away from fishing towns completely.”
 

Jeremy [Six Strings]

Cinema Libre Studio: "FROM ICELAND TO EDEN" DVD and On Demand April 7

Two drug-hazed young lovers dream about escaping icy Reykjavik to live carefree in Paradise (aka Eden), in FROM ICELAND TO EDEN.
 

While escaping from the police, Óliver (Hansel Eagle) accidentally stumbles into a flat and saves Lóa’s (Telma Huld Jóhannesdóttir) life. The pair are both users and dealers but want nothing more than to escape and start a new life. However, the situation becomes much more complicated when they decide to use stolen narcotics from an infamous drug lord to fund their escape plans.

Starring Hansel Eagle whose lifelong friend, writer and director Snævar Sölvason, offered him the lead role in the movie Albatross (2015) which kickstarted his acting career. Since then, he has mainly focused on modeling and acting (commercials, short films and now his second lead role in a full feature currently in production) with a brief hiatus during which he became a World Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher from the Mandala Studio in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Also starring Telma Huld Jóhannesdóttir, who made her debut as a film actress in 2015 with her role in the Icelandic indie flick, Webcam. Since then she has worked primarily in the film industry in Iceland in the areas of producing, casting, writing and directing while also continuing to act. After finishing shooting for the film Eden in early 2017, Telma went on to study acting at the renowned Le Cours Florent in Paris, followed by a course at Prague Film School in the Czech Republic. 

While narrowly escaping a police raid on his home, Oliver (Hansel Eagle) bumps into Loa (Telma Huld Jóhannesdóttir). Recognizing his street name from the club scene of Reykjavik, she says destiny has brought them together. As they desperately seek help from Loa’s colorful acquaintances, the duo become lovers and partners in crime. Running small deals leads to dangerous encounters with an infamous crime syndicate. As Oliver and Loa get sucked deeper into the Icelandic underworld, they dream of escaping to a tropical paradise, but can they pull off just one last heist?
 

Jeremy [Six Strings]

Cinema Libre Studio: "IMPRISONED" [BLU-RAY/DVD]

Following a multi-city U.S. and Puerto Rican release, IMPRISONED is a powerful prison drama that stars Laurence Fishburne, Juana Acosta, Juan Pablo Raba and features Esai Morales, Edward James Olmos, Jon Huertas, Ana Isabelle, and was the last film in which John Heard performed. It was filmed entirely in Puerto Rico in 2017, before Hurricane Maria hit, and premiered during the Cannes International Film Festival earlier this year.  IMPRISONED will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and streaming platforms (Amazon, Vimeo, Hoopla) starting January 7th with additional platforms (iTunes, Google, Vudu) to follow.

In the thriller, Dylan Burke (Juan Pablo Raba), attempts to move on from his former life as a criminal with his true love, Maria (Juana Acosta).He soon realizes that his past will continue to haunt him when he learns the new local prison warden, Daniel Calvin (Laurence Fishburne), has not forgiven him for a previously committed crime.

Calvin does everything in his power to make sure that Burke pays for his past mistakes, even going as far as to frame him for a murder he didn’t commit, landing him back in jail. When the prison erupts into a riot, Burke and Calvin are each forced to make a choice between righteousness and revenge.

In addition to Laurence Fishburne, the film’s stars include Latin American actors: Colombian-born Juan Pablo Raba, best known for his role in Netflix’s “Narcos” who soon will join Liam Neeson and “Vikings” actress Kathry Winnick in the action thriller,  “The Minutemen.” Juana Acosta, also a native of Colombia, is best known for her role in “Velvet,” a Spanish television series streaming on Netflix.  Puerto Rican Ana Isabelle will play Rosalia in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story.

The Bonus features on both DVD & Blu-ray include: 3 deleted Scenes, Interview with Edward James Olmos, Social Impact Filmmaking with Equitas Entertainment Partners, Trailers, Closed Captions.

Equitas Entertainment Partners’ mission is to produce films with a social impact.  With that in mind, they included over thirty formerly incarcerated and a dozen currently incarcerated men as part of the production. Eight of these inmates, still serving time, received a special pass to leave the jail and attend the World Premiere of the film on September 10th and to speak about the positive impact the experience had on their lives.

Cast:  Laurence Fishburne, Juan Pablo Raba, Juana Acosta, John Heard, Esai Morales, Jon Huertas, Edward James Olmos and Ana Isabelle [www.theimprisonedmovie.com] 

Jeremy [Six Strings]

Cinema Libre Studio: "CREATING WOODSTOCK" [DVD]

As the future of Woodstock 50 remains uncertain, a new documentary shows how festival founders made the unimaginable possible in 1969.

With the future of the highly anticipated Woodstock 50 music festival unclear, a younger generation may not know that the original “Three Days of Peace and Music” were also plagued by uncertainty, last-minute venue changes, a lack of headliners and permits… and in fact it almost didn’t happen! With more than 70 hours of interviews with Woodstock producers, planners, and performers – director Mick Richards, who attended the 1969 festival as a teenager, has created the most comprehensive and deeply researched look back at how the event came to be in CREATING WOODSTOCK, available on DVD July 30 and streaming August 13.
The documentary features never-before-seen private film and rare archival video footage, original interviews with key figures, and uncovered photographs that show just how much went in to pulling off the impossible. First-hand accounts of little known stories are woven throughout the film, such as when Jimi Hendrix was stranded at the airport and hitched a ride to the site, or when a bank manager was awoken in the middle of the night to get money to pay The Who, which then needed to be helicoptered to them before they would go on stage – much like the personal supply of strawberries that Janis Joplin required.

Three decades in the making, CREATING WOODSTOCK resurrects the original site blueprints, features interviews with the founders of Woodstock Ventures – John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Michael Lang, and Artie Kornfield – and takes viewers from the initial idea of the “happening” to the moments when the last festival goer stumbled off Max Yasgur’s once pastural alfalfa field. 

For three days in August 1969, nearly a half-million young people descended upon Max Yasgur's farm in upstate New York for the rock ‘n’ roll event that defined a generation. Mythologized for 50 years, the filmmakers set the record straight with "Creating Woodstock,” the most comprehensive examination of how the festival came to be using original interviews with key figures, rare archival footage and unearthed photographs.

The founders of Woodstock Ventures – John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Michael Lang, and Artie Kornfeld – along with the best production talent on either coast, including John Morris, Bill Belmont, Mel Lawrence, and Chip Monck recall moments from the initial idea for the festival, to the search for a suitable site and then the race to build a venue, promote the event and, most importantly, book the bands.

Find out why the Grateful Dead wanted a “do over" and Crosby, Stills & Nash weren’t going to show up, why The Who refused to play and Jimi Hendrix almost didn’t make it, and how it turned into a free concert. Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, and Leslie West recount their experiences, including performing on a stage that nearly collapsed, and learn how a 15-year-old girl may have saved the festival from being shut down entirely!