NEW YORK (AP) – The Bob Marley documentary Marley will stream on Facebook simultaneously during its theatrical opening, a signal that social media may also play a role in shifting movie release windows.
Such day-and-date releases have become increasingly common in recent years for smaller independent films. But this will be the first such U.S. film to stream concurrently on the social media behemoth while opening in theaters.
The film, directed by Kevin Macdonald, will be available for a $6.99 rental beginning April 20th, which is the day it opens in theaters. A portion of the proceeds from Facebook sales will benefit Save the Children, the charity for needy children.
Marley is also being released via video-on-demand on April 20th.
Facebook began hosting movie rentals in March 2011. Digital delivery of new releases and older films has been a highly competitive frontier, particularly among Google Inc.’s YouTube, Apple Inc.‘s iTunes and subscription service Netflix.
Marley The Life, Music and Legacy of Bob Marley Directed by Kevin MacDonald
Bob Marley’s universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. MARLEY is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.
From Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (One Day In September, The Last King of Scotland) comes the story of a towering figure of musical history, whose music and message has transcended different cultures, languages and creeds to resonate around the world today as powerfully as when he was alive.
MARLEY will make its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this month followed by its North American premiere at SXSW. Magnolia Pictures will release theatrically and on VOD on Friday, April 20th.
Man Of The Soil documentary by Pierre Deschamps is the portrait of a man called Jerry Maka West, a simple man, a Nom Tèw, creole for “a man of the soil” shot in Dominica, “the nature isle”. The documentary illustrates Jerry working his garden in the island’s lush interior juxtaposed with the hustle and bustle of city life. In his garden, his Zion, Jerry grows and prepares his food just as his grandparents did.
The modern world’s complexities passes him by as he weaves in and out, circumventing it, never really being caught up in it. Instead he prefers to live close to nature, working hard and putting back just as much in as he taking out.
Harmony with a living earth, Dominica, the nature island, Jerry Maka West lives the kind of life most of his contemporaries have forsaken, yet many would no doubt envy in a world that has become a confusion of questionable priorities and trivia.
Man Of The Soil documentary has been accepted at eighteen international film festivals including the prestigious International Berlin Film Festival and was awarded for Best Editing and A Special Motion for Best Cinematography. The documentary also won an award for Best Film in the Short Films category at the International Forests Film Festival. The film also won Special Motion for Cinematography/Bridgetown Int. Film Festival 2009 and Coup de Coeur/Terra Festival 2011.
Man Of The Soil has been presented at a number of Caribbean film festivals which include: Barbados Bridgetown International Film Festival, BIFF Bahamas International Film Festival, Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, International Berlin Film Festival.
A little over a month ago we posted some behind the scenes footage of Common’s recent trip to Haiti filming for his latest video “Sweet” the new single from his upcoming The Dreamer – The Believer. During that trip, the Grammy Award-winning rapper-actor help put together a documentary with Justin Dillon which allows him to use his star power to help rescue children forced into slavery. The documentary was created for CNN and is a part of CNN’s Freedom Project, an initiative to end modern day slavery.
The Common Dreams Documentary focuses on Haitian children forced into slavery which is commonly known as Restaveks, which accounts for an estimated 300,000 children working as domestic servants in Haiti..
You can watch the documentary in its entirety at the project’s site, or view it below.
On Life Teachings, I Wayne rejects materialism (“Wise and Fearless”), predicts the imminent downfall of Babylon (“Burn Down Sodom”), rails against the violence associated with “Drug and Rum Vibes” and successfully ventures into dancehall terrain with “The Fire Song” featuring Assassin (a.k.a. Agent Sasco). Understanding the significance of creating a balance in life as well as in music, several songs on “Life Teachings” display a romantic sensitivity not often seen from I Wayne. “The Nile”, “Empress Divine”, “I Care For You” and “Life Service” each extol women who uphold natural livity (lifestyle). “Life Joy,” produced by Marcus “Icus” Deacon, is a hit bound, sultry R&B flavored duet featuring popular Jamaican songstress Etana. The resplendent roots reggae gem, “Real and Clean” is I Wayne’s sweetly seductive declaration of love set to an irresistible one-drop beat.
Born Cliffroy Taylor, 32 years ago, the Kingston native, captivated fans in 2005 with his debut release Lava Ground and its trilogy of hits, “Can’t Satisfy Her,” “Living In Love” and “Lava Ground;” and in 2007 he released his second album Book Of Life, which also landed on Billboard’s Reggae chart. “Can’t Satisfy Her” is still considered one of the most captivating reggae tunes, which charted to no. 31 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and received heavy rotation at New York’s Hot 97 radio station.
Track Listing:
1. Burn Down Sodom
2. Real and Clean
3. Empress Divine
4. Pure As The Nile
5. Herb Fi Legalize
6. The Fire Song
7. Drugs and Rum Vibes
8. Wise and Fearless
9. Change Them Ways
10. Life Teachings (Ital Sipp’ns)
11. Life Joy Featuring Etana
12. Life Service
13. I Care For You
14. Do The Good
Life and Debt documentary explores the effect of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) policies on developing countries through Jamaica’s experience with the organization. Jamaica, having gained its independence from Britain in 1962, found itself struggling as a result of the oil embargo in 1963. In order to receive loans from the IMF, the country entered into a tricky agreement with its lenders. The island country was forced to borrow 4.5 billion yes you read that correctly 4.5 billion from the IMF to fund its development.
The terms of the loan stipulated that Jamaica had to agree to reduce trade barriers by withdrawing its local import restrictions, and thus enter the world market. The local economy became flooded with foreign goods, which were cheaper than those produced locally. This resulted in a loss of jobs and economic self-reliance.
To make bad matters worse, in interviews with Stanley Fisher, Deputy Director of the IMF, he clearly states that the IMF’s mission is to alleviate short-term deficits. Its goal is not to relieve long-term economic hardship.
Utilizing excerpts from the award-winning non-fiction text “A Small Place” by Antiguan born Jamaica Kincaid, Life & Debt is a woven tapestry of sequences focusing on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the U.S. and other foreign economic agendas. By combining traditional documentary telling with a stylized narrative framework, the complexity of international lending, structural adjustment policies and free trade will be understood in the context of the day-to-day realities of the people whose lives they impact.
The film opens with the arrival of vacationers to the island– utilizing Ms. Kincaids text as voice-over, we begin to understand the profound contrasts behind the breathtaking natural beauty of the island. The poetic urgency of Ms. Kincaids text lends a first-person understanding of the legacy of the country’s colonial past, and to it’s present day economic challenges. For example, as we see a montage of the vacationer in her hotel, voice-over: “When you sit down to eat your delicious meal, it’s better that you don’t know that most of what you are eating came off a ship from Miami. There is a world of something in this, but I can’t go into it right now.” (adapted excerpt “A Small Place”)
