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August 7, 2008 |
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New on DVD
At its heart, CONSTANTINE’S SWORD is a detective story, as Carroll journeys into his own past (his father was a U.S. Air Force General who helped prepare for nuclear war) and into the wider world, where he uncovers evidence of church-sanctioned violence against non-Christians. At the Air Force Academy, he and Jacoby expose how some evangelicals are proselytizing inside our country's armed forces and reveal the dangerous consequences of religious influence on American foreign policy. Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, this timely film asks the question: is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs? Director Oren Jacoby is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who has written, directed, and produced award-winning films for more than two decades. He has made documentaries for the BBC, ABC, HBO, PBS, National Geographic, VH-1, and NHK. His last film, “Sister Rose’s Passion”, was winner of Best Documentary Short at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a 2005 Academy Award. He has also won CINE Golden Eagles, the Royal Television Society’s journalism award, and a MacArthur Golden Owl award. CONSTANTINE’S SWORD features an extraordinary array of voicing talents, from Liev Schreiber and Natasha Richardson to Phillip Bosco and Eli Wallach. The music score is by the mulit-talented and award-winning composer Joel Goodman. DVD Bonus Features: Introduction by Gabriel Byrne • Extended Scene & Outtake “Enthralling! [Carroll] is an eloquent screen presence. The movie dives into the distant past for Mr. Carroll's alternative, shadow history of the Catholic Church.” “Like The Da Vinci Code, it grasps at the enigmatic flux of Christian history. “Engrossing and evocative!" - Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES “Astonishing!” - Jeffrey Lyons, NBC'S REEL TALK “Provocative, searching, and intellectually lively!" - Jim Ridley, VILLAGE VOICE “Magnificent, thought-provoking!” - Ronnie Scheib, VARIETY “Fiercely eloquent." -Ty Burr, BOSTON GLOBE "A blistering indictment of papal practices from Hitler's era through the present day. It is a film worth watching." -Erica Orden, NEW YORK SUN “Exhilarating! Scarier than Jesus Camp (and infinitely smarter)." “Eye-opening…moments that are simply amazing. James Carroll is a treasure and a marvelous teller of truths." - Eric Goldman, NJ JEWISH STANDARD “A fascinating journey...that couldn't have come at a better time." CONSTANTINE'S SWORD For downloadable images and press notes go to: www.constantinessword.com |
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New on DVD
Narrated and co-written by world-famous TV legend David Frost, THE SEARCH FOR MENGELE traces Mengele’s escape through Germany to Italy, then to Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, where he finally met his end. It examines Mengele’s life through the eyes of those who knew him, revealing how the infamous Nazi doctor lived out his last years, hiding out (in perverse irony) in a multi-racial society. And it confronts the fact that to simply dismiss Mengele as a solitary monster may be too convenient. Was Mengele alone responsible, or was he the product of a warped system of values? Can this dark moment in human history be repeated in the future? Why was he never caught? Filmed in ten countries including Germany, Israel, Poland and Brazil and featuring numerous interviews and photographs of Mengele through the years, this astonishing, disturbing film to answers these questions by uncovering not only Mengele’s life and crimes, but also the complicity of those that allowed him to escape justice. In the words of Rolf Mengele, who discovered one day that his ‘Uncle Fritz’ was in fact his father, “if they really wanted to get him, they could have.” DVD Bonus Features: Production Notes • Third Reich Film Gallery “Minces no words. The interviews – with his son Rolf, historians, journalists, sympathizers, and members of Israeli intelligence – provide authenticity to this strong documentary.” THE SEARCH FOR MENGELE |
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CONSTANTINE'S SWORD is the latest film by Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby (Sister Rose's Passion) and is based on the best-selling book by James Carroll, a National Book Award winner and columnist for the Boston Globe. Carroll is a practicing Catholic whose search for the truth leads him to confront persecution and violence in the name of God – today and in the Church’s past. He discovers a terrible legacy that reverberates across the centuries: from the Emperor Constantine’s vision of the cross as a sword and symbol of power, to the rise of genocidal anti-Semitism, to modern day wars sparked by religious extremism.
Josef Mengele, the ‘Angel of Death,’ was the most notorious SS doctor at Auschwitz. He sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to their deaths and performed appalling experiments on adults and children. After the end of World War II, Mengele was one of the world’s most wanted war criminals – yet for the next forty years he escaped justice.