Foundrywire

Port Washington, NY – Worlds collide, tempers flare and dreams come true when Mr. Vig, an elderly Danish eccentric, and Sister Amvrosija, a strong-willed Russian nun, join forces to transform a run-down castle into a Russian Orthodox monastery in the acclaimed documentary, THE MONASTERY: MR. VIG AND THE NUN. The emotionally powerful film, a 2008 Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best Documentary and Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee, speaks to all viewers with its story of two dissimilar individuals who must overcome their differences to complete a mission greater than themselves. Called “priceless” by The Village Voice, the 2007 KOCH Lorber Films U.S. theatrical release makes its DVD debut on February 12 for $26.98 SRP.

Port Washington, NY –Slipping through the predawn darkness, over highways, through traffic and across the border, Palestinian construction workers arrive clandestinely in Israel every day in search of work. With raw, handheld images, their daily struggles have been captured in Israeli director Ido Haar’s acclaimed and poignant documentary, 9 STAR HOTEL. An official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, this powerful and compelling 2007 theatrical release from KOCH Lorber Films arrives on DVD February 5 for $26.98 SRP

Port Washington, NY – Both praised and condemned, Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) pioneered sexuality in art through his paintings, murals and sketches. At the height of his fame, Klimt, one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau movement, received the prestigious Golden Order of Merit from the Austrian Emperor and had wealthy patrons flocking. However, personal tragedies and artistic and political turmoil over his work’s explicit sexuality led to a darker side, and he died at age 55. Acclaimed director Raúl Ruiz (Time Regained), who has made his share of provocative films and who also trained as a painter, tells the artist’s story in the captivating film, KLIMT, featuring an outstanding performance by 2-time Oscar-nominee John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich, Dangerous Liaisons, Color Me Kubrick) in the title role. KLIMT will be available for art lovers and world cinema aficionados on January 8 complete with a making-of featurette, for $26.98 SRP.

Port Washington, NY – Award-winning director Lars von Trier (Dogville, Dancer in the Dark) invites viewers to return to the mazelike corridor’s of Denmark’s most esteemed (and cursed) medical institution with THE KINGDOM: SERIES 2. In this second and final installment of the acclaimed supernatural series, malicious forces are once again at work as the hospital’s restless spirits become even more entwined with the eccentric staff and residents. On January 22, KOCH Lorber Films invites viewers to experience all the madness for themselves as THE KINGDOM: SERIES 2 debuts on DVD for $29.98 SRP.

Port Washington, NY – Something's happening on the edge of town. There's a desperate housewife in the parking lot, a musical chorus line mowing the lawn ― and a loaded gun in the upstairs closet. Welcome to RADIANT CITY, a critically acclaimed, entertaining and startling new documentary on 21st century suburbanites from Canada's king of surreal comedy Gary Burns (Waydowntown, A Problem with Fear) and journalist Jim Brown. On March 4, KOCH Lorber Films brings the Vancouver International Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner to DVD for home viewers ― wherever they may dwell ― for $26.98 SRP.

Port Washington, NY – Within the four walls of a seedy hotel room in Santiago, two emotionally-damaged individuals find not only an erotic encounter, but also themselves. EN LA CAMA, the Chilean entry for the 2007 Best Foreign Film Oscar, tells the story of a one-night stand that reveals much more than a mutual attraction. On March 11, KOCH Lorber Films proudly presents this explicit, festival favorite from talented director Matías Bize as the latest entry in its expanding “Cine Internacional” collection, featuring award-winning and acclaimed Spanish Language cinema.

Port Washington, NY –Filmmaking brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani made their mark on the world’s cinema screens with powerful, emotionally-charged masterpieces such as Padre Padrone and Good Morning, Babylon. Now, KOCH Lorber Films is bringing three of their most beloved and award-winning films to DVD – two for the very first time in the U.S.! On April 1, world cinema lovers are certain to revel in the digitally restored and remastered versions of the Cannes award-winning THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS, KAOS and FIORILE, each priced to add to every sophisticated home entertainment library at $26.98 SRP.

A deeply religious man finds his faith tested when he is thrust into the material world in Ozer Kiziltan’s powerful TAKVA: A MAN’S FEAR OF GOD. The film, a prize winner at major film festivals including Toronto and Berlin, makes its U.S. debut on KOCH Lorber Films DVD on December 9 for $26.98SRP.

A film set during a crucial point in modern history, director Pavel Lungin’s TAXI BLUES was among the first works to address the coming end of the Soviet Union and the beginnings of the new Russia. The story of two men representing the old ways and the new, the critically-lauded 1990 festival favorite led the way for such films such as Russian Ark and Mother and Son and was a Best Foreign Language Nominee for the Golden Globes and the Independent Spirit Awards. And, on January 20, KOCH Lorber Films brings TAXI BLUES to DVD for the very first time, a must-have addition to the home entertainment library of every world cinema aficionado at $24.98SRP.

A man leading a privileged life realizes that he cannot have it all in L’INNOCENTE, the final work from the masterful and celebrated Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti. Hailed upon its premiere at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, the film makes its American DVD debut on March 10 from Koch Lorber Films. Cut by 14 minutes for its initial commercial engagements, L’INNOCENTE has finally been restored to its original 127-minute length, for viewing as Visconti himself had intended. The DVD, which has an SRP of $24.98, presents the film in 16x9 widescreen (anamorphic). Extras include an interview with the great screenwriter and frequent Visconti collaborator Suso Cecchi d’Amico, who adapted L’INNOCENTE from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s classic novel.

From My Night at Maud’s (1969) and Claire’s Knee (1970) to A Tale of Springtime (1990), feted French auteur Eric Rohmer has, for over five decades, built an influential career on stylizing modern romance into classical love stories. So, it’s fitting that, for what may well be the 88 year-old Academy Award-nominated director’s last film, he chose as his muse, “L’Astrée”, the 17th century pastoral fantasy by Honoré d'Urfe about a lovelorn shepherd in fifth-century Gaul. In the spirit of lyrical, classical Shakespearean fantasies such as “As You Like it” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the 2008 U.S. theatrical release and Venice Film Festival Golden Lion nominee will make its DVD debut on February 10 for $26.98SRP.

In July 2005, Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Scott Hicks (Shine, No Reservations) began shooting a film about Philip Glass to coincide with the composer’s 70th birthday. Over the next 18 months, Hicks followed Glass across three continents – from his annual ride on the Coney Island “Cyclone” to the world premiere of his new opera in Germany and in performance with a didgeridoo virtuoso in Australia. The resulting documentary, GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS, would go on to become an Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival and garner universal acclaim with theatrical playdates across America. On April 8, the film will premiere on national television on the acclaimed PBS series American Masters, and two-weeks later, on April 21, will debut on DVD from KOCH Lorber Films. The 2-disc collector’s set features the 119-minute theatrical-cut of the film supplemented by over three hours of bonus features, including a fascinating audio commentary with Hicks, additional interviews, performances and more.

For over 40 years, Italian director Marco Ferreri stunned and shocked filmgoers with his daring cinematic visions. Politics, impossible relationships, alienation, madness and sexual frankness mark his confrontational films and on April 7, KOCH Lorber Films will release two acclaimed, international award-winners from the innovator’s canon. LA GRANDE BOUFFE, a 1973 U.S. theatrical release starring 3-time Academy Award®-nominee Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini’s 8 ½) and TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS, a 1983 U.S. theatrical release starring Ben Gazzara (The Big Lebowski, The Thomas Crown Affair). Both digitally-re-mastered films are presented with a 16x9 aspect ratio and Dolby Digital sound, feature an excerpt from the documentary “Marco Ferreri: The Director Who Came from the Future” and will be available to world cinema aficionados for $19.98SRP each.

A petty thief pushes his way into the lives of an unhappily married couple, and irrevocably changes their world in French director Bertrand Blier’s (Going Places, How Much Do You Love Me?, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs) darkly comedic sex caper, MÉNAGE. Upon its 1986 U.S. theatrical run, the acclaimed film, nominated for 8 César Awards and the prestigious Cannes Golden Palm Award, was called “Blier’s most satisfying work ” And on July 14, this powerful probe into a seamy, sexual side of Paris starring Oscar nominee Gérard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose, Cyrano de Bergerac, Changing Times), Michel Blanc (Monsieur Hire, Grosse Fatigue) and Miou-Miou (The Science of Sleep, Dry Cleaning), makes its DVD debut for $24.98SRP…only from KOCH Lorber Films

The New York Times called Marco Ferreri “arguably the greatest Italian satirist to ever step behind the camera.” And upon his death in 1997, Gilles Jacob, artistic director of the Cannes International Film Festival, said “The Italian cinema has lost one of its most original artists, one of its most personal authors…No one was more demanding nor more allegorical than he in showing the state of crisis of contemporary man”. On July 14, KOCH Lorber celebrates one of world cinema’s most daring and confrontational auteurs with DVD releases of two acclaimed films from Ferreri: BYE BYE MONKEY (1978), starring Gérard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose, Changing Times), Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini’s 8 ½) and Geraldine Fitzgerald (Arthur, Wuthering Heights) and DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN (1974), a satire of the highest order starring Catherine Deneuve (8 Women, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli (Atlantic City, Strange Affair).

Though he was awarded an honorary Oscar® in 2000, 83 year-old Andrzej Wajda, Poland’s most celebrated filmmaker shows no signs of slowing down with KATYN, a 2009 U.S. theatrical release of his most deeply personal film. An epic and sweeping drama that exposes an oft-overlooked moment in WWII history, KATYN is based on the “stunningly brutal” novel by Andrzej Mularcyk detailing Joseph Stalin’s horrific 1940 liquidation of the Polish officer corps in Katyn Forest. Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award® in 2008, the powerful KATYN will make its U.S. DVD debut on August 11 for $26.98SRP, complemented by a host of enlightening extras including an interview with Wajda, and interviews and reactions from the Polish premiere.