FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   
 

Contact: Michelle Berninger
michelle@firstrunfeatures.com
212-243-0600 x27

 
THE GERMAN DOCTOR, CASTING BY and
EVERGREEN on DVD September 16
 
THE GERMAN DOCTOR
A film by Lucía Puenzo

93 minutes, fiction, color, 2014
In Spanish w/ English subtitles

Patagonia, 1960. A German doctor meets an Argentinean family and follows them on a long desert road to a small town where the family will be starting a new life. Eva, Enzo and their three children welcome the doctor into their home and entrust their young daughter, Lilith, to his care, not knowing that they are harboring one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. At the same time, Israeli agents are desperately looking to bring 'the German Doctor' to justice.

Based on filmmaker Lucía Puenzo's fifth novel, the story follows Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death," a German SS officer and a physician at the Auschwitz concentration camp, in the years he spent "hiding," along with many other Nazis, in South America following his escape from Germany. Mengele was considered to be one of WWII's most heinous Nazi war criminals.

“A smart and unsettling atmospheric thriller.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“An astonishing, powerful story about one of the world's most evil men that makes for first-rate drama.” - Jeffrey Lyons

“Disquieting, chilling... a cracking good thriller.” - McClatchy Tribune News Service

“A chilling, original tale.” - The Hollywood Reporter

“A quiet knockout.” - The Washington Post

“Deep tension...and the cast is superb.” - Entertainment Weekly

UPC: 720229916196 | Catalog #: FRF916196D | $27.95 | Street: September 16

CASTING BY
A film by Tom Donahue

89 minutes, documentary, color, 2013

Marion Dougherty was posthumously honored by the Television Academy with the Governors Award at the Creative Arts Emmys on August 16th, 2014.

Named one of the best documentaries of the year by the National Board of Review, Casting By places the spotlight on one of filmmaking's unsung heroes - the casting director - and takes us on a journey through 50 years of Hollywood history from an entirely new perspective.

Pioneers like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster were iconoclasts whose exquisite taste and gut instincts helped draw the curtain on the old studio system and usher in the 'New Hollywood' with movies like Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Bonnie and Clyde. In the process they launched the careers of countless iconic actors including James Dean, Robert Duvall, Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman, Glenn Close, John Travolta, Jeff Bridges and Bette Midler.

In this illuminating documentary, directors and actors including Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro and Diane Lane share stories and memories from their early careers. Rarely seen clips as well as scenes from classics like The Sting, Goodfellas, Annie Hall, The Great
Escape
and West Side Story add to the fun.

“CRITIC'S PICK! This delightful documentary shows that Dougherty may have single-handedly created a filmmaking craft and then made it indispensable. Later, with Lynn Stalmaster, Dougherty brought this casting approach to meet the fresh needs of a film industry emerging from the collapse of the old studio system. It's amazing how many actors of the 'American New Wave' got their start thanks to those two, and we get to see these performers, then and now.” - The Village Voice

“Jam-packed with evocative film clips, archival footage and interviews with a who's who of actors and filmmakers, 'Casting By' makes a compelling case for a Hollywood-gone-by when gut instincts, risk-taking and a dark-horse mentality could trump corporate meddling and box office slavishness. Good stuff! ” - Los Angeles Times

“Highly entertaining! An illuminating close-up on a vital cog in the moviemaking machine and a fresh perspective on key episodes in the birth of the New Hollywood. It's thrilling to gain insight into how these iconic movies came together.” - The Hollywood Reporter

“Delicious insider tales of the making of some of your favorite films enrich this wonderfully informative and entertaining doc about casting directors. Enthralling!” - Film Journal

“Donahue's access is nothing short of awesome - it begins to feel as if there's nobody he can't get on camera - as is his capacity for pulling together archival material. Distinguished by remarkable film clips, particularly some from TV's first golden age, and a formidable talking-heads roster, 'Casting By' recounts in lively fashion the development of this little-understood craft.” - Variety

“Outstanding! 'Casting By' would be valuable just for the interview footage with Dougherty and Stalmaster, but they're just part of the reason the documentary is so good. This is clearly a labor of love. It must have been in the works an awfully long time...but it was worth waiting for.”
- Leonard Maltin


DVD packaged in certified Green Forestry eco pack
UPC: 720229916189 | Catalog #: FRF916189D | $24.95 | Street: September 16

EVERGREEN:
THE ROAD TO LEGALIZATION
A film by Riley Morton & Nils Cowan

86 minutes, documentary, color, 2014

DVD extras include 7 bonus videos:
• The Future - After I-502
• Q&A with Ethan Nadelmann, Director, Drug Policy Alliance
• The International Implications of Legalization
• Rick Steves on Removing the Stigma
• Vivian McPeak on I-502 & the State of the Reform Movement
• Pete Holmes on Prisons
• Dominic Holden on Alison Holcomb


After a 40-year-old nationwide 'War on Drugs' the state of Washington becomes a key battleground in the fight to legalize marijuana. But many advocates of legalization are opposed to Initiative 502, the law that will permit the growing, sale and use of cannabis. They say it will impose harsh DUI laws, new taxes, additional restrictions and penalties that will hurt medical marijuana patients and providers. These unexpected opposing forces make Evergreen a scintillating inside look at a political clash that exposes the economic and human impact of marijuana legalization.

“Marijuana's Journey to Legitimacy.” - The New York Times

“An engrossing behind-the-scenes look at how Washington state went from a politically polarized battleground to be one of the first states to pave the way for drug reform.” - Denver Post

“This dual focus on the need to end the ineffective, destructive 'war on drugs' and broader questions of political compromise gives 'Evergreen' particular resonance.” - Variety

“A fascinating, extraordinarily well-researched and executed doc.” - Filmmaker Magazine

DVD packaged in certified Green Forestry eco pack
UPC: 720229916141 | Catalog #: FRF916141D | $24.95 | Street: September 16

 
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Please send review links to michelle@firstrunfeatures.com