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ACADEMY AWARD®-NOMINATED FILM
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA:
DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
DEBUTS ON DVD JULY 20TH

New York, NY, June 8 — First Run Features is proud to announce the national DVD release of the Academy Award®-nominated documentary THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS, produced and directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith.  Winner of the National Board of Review Freedom of Expression Award and an official selection at prestigious film festivals worldwide, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA will be available nationwide on DVD on July 20th.

In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, concludes that the war is based on decades of lies and leaks 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The New York Times, making headlines around the world.  Hailed as a hero, vilified as a traitor, and ostracized by even his closest colleagues, Ellsberg risks life in prison to stop a war he helped plan. This is the riveting story of one man’s profound crisis of conscience that shook a nation, its courts, its free press and its presidency to the core.  It is also an acutely timely and piercing look at the world of government secrecy in wartime as revealed by the ultimate insider.  Marked by a landmark Supreme Court battle between America’s greatest newspapers and its president, this political thriller unravels a saga that leads directly to Watergate, Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.

“I just say that we’ve got to keep our eye on the main ball.
The main ball is Ellsberg. We’ve got to get this son-of-a-bitch.”
- President Richard M. Nixon, in conversation with Attorney General John Mitchell, June 29, 1971

For press materials, please visit: www.firstrunfeatures.com/press_hv.html

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:

“Superb…fascinating.  In another time and culture, a story on this scale would deserve an opera.”
- Mick Lasalle, San Francisco Chronicle

“Pulses with the suspense and momentum of a sleek thriller. Gripping, exemplary filmmaking.”
- Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

“GRIPPING, EVOCATIVE, ENTERTAINING.”  - Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

“A meaty, suspenseful, Oscar®-nominated documentary about the government policy wonk who became so disillusioned with the Vietnam War he released 7,000 pages of classified material to the press in 1971.” - Ty Burr, Boston Globe

“For those who lived through the turmoil of Vietnam, and for the generations that have come since, the film is an important document in its own right.” - Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

 “CRITIC’S PICK!  An enthralling revelatory story of moral courage.  One revelatory interview after another…this story changed the world.” - David Edelstein, New York Magazine

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS (2009, 94 mins.)  Produced and Directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith. Executive Producer: Jodie Evans. Original score: Blake Leyh. Director of Photography: Vicente Franco. Editors: Michael Chandler, Rick Goldsmith, Lawrence Lerew. Written by Lerew, Goldsmith and Ehrlich, based, in part, on the books: “Secrets” (2002) and “Papers on the War” (1972) by Daniel Ellsberg. Narrator: Daniel Ellsberg. Featuring: Daniel Ellsberg, Patricia Ellsberg, Howard Zinn, John Dean, Egil “Bud” Krogh, Hedrick Smith, Max Frankel and Anthony Russo. USA.  A co-production of Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith and The Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and ZDF/Arte.

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA:
DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
94 minutes, color, English, 2009

Bonus Features:
• Interviews with Oscar®-nominated actor Woody Harrelson and Best-selling author Naomi Wolf
• The Nixon Tapes (audio highlights from the Oval Office)
• Ellsberg Today
• Filmmaker Biographies
• Closed Captions

UPC: 7-20229-91438-3
Catalog #: FRF 914383D
SRP: $27.95