Posted by Larry Gleeson

Knitting Factory Entertainment and Kino Lorber Partner for Fall Film Festival

Festival is Latest Component of Two-Tier Deal, Offering First-Run Selections And Library Titles Under KinoMarquee Banner and Kino Now

https://kinomarquee.com/series/knitting-factory-fall-film-festival

For Immediate Release

New York, NY (October 12, 2020) – Leading national entertainment group Knitting Factory Entertainment (KFE) will present a curated KNITTING FACTORY FALL FESTIVAL, a “mini film festival” of five feature films from Kino Lorber, the veteran and well-respected theatrical, educational and home entertainment distributor of independent, foreign and classic films, further expanding Kino’s leading position in the new world of “virtual cinema.”

Beginning October 9, 2020, viewers at home anywhere can watch the five films as much as they want during a 30-day period from launch with a $US20.00 pass. Individual films are available for one-week rentals for $8.00 each. The five films for the Knitting Factory Fall Festival are:

• GORDON LIGHTFOOT: IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND is co-directors Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni’s exploration of the career, music, and influence of legendary Canadian musical icon Gordon Lightfoot. With unprecedented access to the artist, their documentary follows Lightfoot’s evolution from Christian choirboy to troubled troubadour to international star and beloved Canadian icon. (2019; TRT: 90 minutes; Canada; English with English Closed Captions)

• AIN’T IN IT FOR MY HEALTH: A FILM ABOUT LEVON HELM. Director Jacob Hatley’s intimate documentary finds Levon Helm at home in Woodstock, NY, in the midst of creating his first studio album in 25 years. Shot during the course of more than two, this highly anticipated film focuses in on the four-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member after his 2007 comeback album, Dirt Farmer, brought him back to the spotlight after his years of success with The Band. (2010; TRT: 83 minutes; US; English)

• GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI. This electrifying journey through the public and private worlds of pop culture mega-icon Grace Jones contrasts musical sequences with intimate personal footage, all the while brimming with Jones’s bold aesthetic. Sophie Fiennes’s documentary goes beyond the traditional music biography, offering a portrait as stylish and unconventional as its subject: a larger-than-life entertainer, an androgynous glam-pop diva, and an enduring, unpredictable media presence. (2018; TRT: 115 minutes; U.K., Ireland; English)

• SONJA: THE WHITE SWAN. Directed by Anne Sewitsky, SONJA is the story of Sonja Henie, one of the world’s greatest athletes and the inventor of modern figure skating, who decides to go to Hollywood in 1936 to become a movie star. Her first film is a box office smash, selling the most tickets in the world in 1937. She becomes one of the richest women of her time, always surrounded by fans, lovers, and family, and never has a moment alone. As she gets older the spotlight begins to fade, but she refuses to quit. (2018; TRT: 113 minutes; Norway; Norwegian, subtitled in English)

• THE GREY FOX. After decades in prison, stagecoach robber Bill Miner (Richard Farnsworth) emerges in 1901 a free man without a place in 20th-century society…until he sees The Great Train Robbery and is inspired to once again do what he does best. THE GREY FOX is the only narrative in the series, coming from director Phillip Borsos. (1982; TRT: 92 minutes; Canada; English with English Closed Captions)

KFE has also curated several first-run Kino Lorber films as a bespoke offering, tailored to their community. This program began in June 2020 with the Justin Pemberton documentary CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY and Abel Ferrara’s 2019 Cannes Selection TOMMASO. Starring Willem Dafoe. These films were offered to the KFE audience prior to a virtual theatrical release to art houses and independent cinemas around the country. Going forward, Kino Lorber is planning to offer both more KFE-presented film and Knitting Factory-selected playlists of films from their vast library viewers can rent or own via their streaming platform Kino Now www.kinonow.com.

In this partnership, KFE joins a prestigious lineup of current and new curatorial groups, including The French Institute/Alliance Francaise and legendary news publication The New Republic, presenting a selection of classic films on KinoNow, which will be available to digitally rent or own.

“We’re living in a new world,” said KFE president/CEO Morgan Margolis. “To be able to continue providing entertainment to the public while supporting independent artists, we’re all going to have to be creative thinkers and Kino Lorber is providing a great platform for our new entertainment landscape.”

“As a brand, Knitting Factory has always stood for cutting-edge entertainment,” said Kino Lorber president and CEO Richard Lorber, “and the world in which we find ourselves requires the kind of agility that KFE has always brought to their business.”Knitting Factory Entertainment and Kino Lorber have some history together. Kino distributed the KFE-produced FINDING FELA, Alex Gibney’s 2014 documentary merging the life of the Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti with the genesis, Broadway run and tour of the musical Fela! KFE has produced other filmed entertainment as well, including THEY WILL HAVE TO KILL US FIRST: Malian Music in Exile, which follows Malian musicians’ fight to keep music alive after jihadist banned all forms of music in parts of the country starting in 2012; a limited rock & roll reality series Rock City LA; and a rock musician interview show.