New World War I DVD Available in April

An outstanding cast of acclaimed British actors bring the First World War to life;

Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) narrates this touching documentary which stars Claire Foy, Matthew McNulty, Alison Steadman, Daniel Mays, Romola Garai, and Brian Cox

 

WORLD WAR ONE: THE PEOPLE’S STORY

DVD Debut from Athena on April 14, 2015

 

“An incredibly moving testament” — Daily Express

“Fascinating insight” — The Newcastle Journal

“Outstanding actors…read earnestly, with heartfelt honesty” — Daily Mail

“Beautifully captured an era” — Daily Mail

 

Silver Spring, MD — Following the centennial of WWI, World War One: The People’s Story makes it’s DVD debut on April 14, 2015 from Athena, an RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand. An outstanding cast of acclaimed British actors bring the First World War to life in this stirring documentary created to commemorate the conflict’s centennial in 2014. This unique four-part series mixes archival footage with reenactments by actors playing real participants in the war and performing excerpts from their original letters, memoirs, and diaries of the time. The series is narrated by Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) and stars Claire Foy (Little Dorrit), Matthew McNulty (The Paradise, Jamaica Inn), Alison Steadman (Pride & Prejudice), Daniel Mays (Ashes to Ashes), Romola Garai (Emma), and Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy). This DVD 2-disc set features four episodes plus a 21-page viewer’s guide ($39.99, AcornOnline.com). Originally broadcast in the UK on ITV in August 2014, The People’s Story premiered in the US on Acorn.TV, the premier British TV streaming service in North America, in February 2015, and is available to available to stream any time on Acorn TV at www.Acorn.TV.

 

Through original diaries, letters, and memoirs, this unforgettable documentary tells how the lives of regular British men and women were transformed by the Great War. A reservist leaves for the front determined to write to his mother every few days. A newlywed says goodbye to his pregnant wife. A young woman fears that when her fiancé sails for France, her hopes of marriage will disappear. For parents and children, soldiers and factory workers alike, life and love go on but never again as they did before. Few could imagine the horrors ahead: hundreds of thousands would never return, and those who did would carry wounds—physical, emotional, psychological—that would change their lives forever.

 

Along with historical footage, an outstanding cast of actors reenact first-hand accounts uncovered from attics, archives, and libraries across Britain. Narrated by Olivia Colman, this four-part series re-creates the extraordinary stories of ordinary people, told in their own words.

 

BONUS FEATURES: 12-page viewer’s guide with a map of the western front; an overview of WWI; and articles on trench warfare, the suffragist movement, and the WWI poets

 

Street Date: April 14, 2015                                SRP: $39.99     

DVD 2-Disc Set: 4 episodes – Approx. 192 min. – SDH Subtitles

UPC 0-54961-2324-9-9                           ISBN 978-1-62172-324-0

 

An RLJ Entertainment, Inc. brand (NASDAQ: RLJE), Athena releases provide an authoritative and entertaining learning experience through high quality, informative, non-fiction programming. Athena’s 2014 releases included: Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey, Secrets of Ancient Egypt, The Science of Measurement, Talks About Nothing, The Story of Medicine, Civil War: The Untold Story, Theatreland, The Rise of the Nazi Party, Alexander’s Lost World and David Suchet: In The Footsteps of St. Paul. 2015 releases include: The Story of Women and Art, World War I: The People’s Story, and Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets. Athena DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from RLJ Entertainment at (888) 870-8047 or AcornOnline.com.

Civil War: The Untold Story DVD Release

Narrated by Emmy® and Golden-Globe nominated actress

Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey)

 

CIVIL WAR: THE UNTOLD STORY

DVD Debut on April 29, 2014 from Athena

 

Brand new documentary explores the battles that defined the Civil War;

Release coincides with its premiere on public television

 

“First rate…compelling” —James Lighthizer, President, Civil War Trust

“If Ken Burns thoroughly covered Gettysburg and Antietam in his landmark series,

Wheeler invites viewers to more thoughtfully consider Shiloh and Vicksburg.” – Denver Post

 

 

 Silver Spring, MD –Providing new insights into the causes of the war, as told through the lens of the Western Campaign, the ground-breaking documentary Civil War: The Untold Story debuts on DVD on April 29, 2014 from Athena, an RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand. Narrated by Emmy® and Golden-Globe nominated actress Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey), the stunning 2013 production, set to air on PBS stations in Spring 2014, uses dramatic battle recreations, compelling archival imagery, 3-D maps, and insightful interviews with top Civil War scholars in this five-part series to show why the West played such a vital part in the outcome of the war. Focusing on the often overlooked battles of Vicksburg, Shiloh, Atlanta and more, the series also explores the issue of slavery and the surprising roles that African-Americans played in the conflict. The DVD 2-Disc set includes five episodes, plus rare archival footage from the 50-year anniversary of the Siege of Vicksburg (14 min.), and 12-page viewer’s guide (276 min., plus bonus, $49.99, AcornOnline.com).

 

In this revealing documentary from the award-winning producers of Life after Katrina, Homes of the Underground Railroad, How the West Was Lost, and many more, Elizabeth McGovern recounts how the struggle between North and South—long defined by battles like Gettysburg, Antietam, and Bull Run—was quite dependent on events in the lands then known as “the West.” Although often overlooked, the western theatre—between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River—saw some of the conflict’s bloodiest encounters, such as Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chickamauga. It featured iconic leaders like the Union’s Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman as well as the Confederacy’s Albert Sidney Johnston and John Bell Hood. This series also tells inspirational and untold stories of African Americans—from enslaved to emancipated, to fighting for their freedom.

 

Episodes: Bloody Shiloh; A Beacon of Hope; River of Death; Death Knell of the Confederacy; With Malice toward None

 

Bonus Features: Rare archival footage from the 50-year anniversary of the Siege of Vicksburg (14 min.); 12-page viewer’s guide with a map, a timeline, profiles of Westerners who played major roles in the conflict, and articles on African Americans fighting for their freedom and Texas in the Civil War

 

Street Date: April 29, 2014                                SRP: $49.99                  UPC: 0-54961-2234-9-7

DVD 2-Disc Set: 5 episodes – Approx. 276 min., plus bonus – Documentary - SDH Subtitles - Contains disturbing images

 

An RLJ Entertainment, Inc. brand (NASDAQ: RLJE), Athena releases provide an authoritative and entertaining learning experience through high quality, informative, non-fiction programming. Athena’s 2014 releases will include: Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey, Secrets of Ancient Egypt, The Science of Measurement, Talks About Nothing, The Story of Medicine, Civil War: The Untold Story, Theatreland, The Rise of the Nazi Party, Alexander’s Lost World and David Suchet: In The Footsteps of St. Paul. Athena DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from RLJ Entertainment at (888) 870-8047 or AcornOnline.com.

Preorder on Amazon here: Civil War: The Untold Story

 

Video Review--Rebel presented by Voces on PBS

Premiering on the PBS show Voces, May 24, 2013 is the hour long documentary titled Rebel.

Romi Dias stars as Loreta Janeta Velazquez.
Photo: Gerard Gaskin

Rebel recounts the story of Loreta Velazquez, a Cuban born woman who becomes a Confederate soldier before turning Union spy. This work, directed by Maria Agui Carter, is based upon Velasquez's post war memoir titled The Woman in Battle: The Civil War Narrative of Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Cuban Woman and Confederate Soldier (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography).

Largely a forgotten figure, through the writings of Velazquez and the commentary of academics and historians such as Gary Gallagher we learn the story of a woman who could be considered a tragic figure who was ahead of her time.

Loreta was born to a well off family in Cuba who in 1849 sent her to New Orleans. Here her spiritedness began to show as she  refused what appears to have been a prepared marriage. She eventually marries a white man (i.e. not Hispanic or black) who appears to only be known by the name William. They quickly have two children with a third on the way when William is sent by the army to Indian Territory. Loretta and her children move to St. Louis where her infant child dies days after birth and soon after her other two children die from a fever epidemic that sweeps through St. Louis.

As the political situation worsens war becomes apparent. William resigns his army commission and joins the Confederacy with his home state (I assume this to be a Texas regiment and not the United States Army but this is unclear in the documentary). He is sent to Pensacola, FL where he is killed though it is called an accident.

With no family, no home, and seemingly no country Loreta transforms herself into a Confederate soldier by the name of Harry T. Buford. As Buford she fights at Bull Run, Shiloh, and other locations being injured several times. While serving as a Confederate she acquires a slave by the name of Bob. Bob serves her well until escaping to apparent freedom at Shiloh. It is unclear the relationship with Bob and if he knew Loreta's/Harry's secret.

In July 1863 it is discovered that Harry is a woman and Loreta is considered to possibly by a Union spy. This charge could mean death. General John Winder however frees her several days later now using her in the Secret Service Corps. Shortly there after she goes to work in Baltimore for the Union Secret Service.

In 1875 she and her book ran afoul of Jubal Early, he of the Lost Cause. Early, who is portrayed harshly in Rebel with a wild eyed and untamed look, refuses to believe her story and essentially calls her a female camp follower; or prostitute. For the most part she disappears though she does show in printed records until 1902. According to the documentary her burial location is unknown.

While seemingly short on detail this is still a worthwhile program to view. In the filmmakers defense there really is little detail about Velazquez available. The filmmakers have used her own limited writings for much of the dialogue. During this story we learn of the race issues common in the south during this period. We also see that Velazquez sees a changing in the role of money and finances as the war drags on. Where strongest however is where we learn about the overall role of women in the time period. It is estimated that maybe 500-1,000 served in the war. The role of a woman was not questioned in the mid 19th century. The clothing and appearance of a woman was not open for debate or interpretation. Sexual roles were firm and not to be changed. Society was not ready for women such as Loreta Velazquez.

Cast
Loreta Velazquez--Romi Dias

Filmmakers
Maria Agui Carter--writer, producer, director
Calvin Lindsay, Jr.--producer

Academics and Historians
Catherine Clinton
Renee Sentilles
Kirsten Silva Gruesz
Christina Vella
Jesse Aleman
Vicki L. Ruiz
DeAnne Blanton
Elizabeth D. Leonard
Richard Hall
Carman Cumming
Gary W. Gallagher

Thank you to CaraMar Publicity for sending a preview copy of Rebel!

Press Release--Copperhead

Copperhead

PRODUCTION NOTES

 

Director/Producer

Ron Maxwell

 

Screenwriter: Bill Kauffman

Based on the Novel by: Harold Frederic

 

Cast: Billy Campbell, Angus Macfadyen, and Peter Fonda

Running time

120 minutes

 

OPENS IN THEATRES ON JUNE 28, 2013

 

 

Copperhead 

is unlike any Civil War movie to date. It is a film of the war at home – of a family

ripped apart by war, of fathers set against sons and daughters, of a community driven to an appalling act of vengeance against a man who insists on exercising his right to free speech during wartime. A story of the violent passions and burning feuds that set ablaze the home front during the Civil War,

Copperhead the movie is also a timeless and deeply moving examination

of the price of dissent, the place of the individual amidst the hysteria of wartime, and the terrible price of war – a cost measured not in dollars but in fractured families, broken loves, and men dead before their time.

Based on the extraordinary novel by Harold Frederic, who witnessed these conflicts firsthand as a small child,

Copperhead tells the story of Abner Beech, a stubborn and righteous farmer of

Upstate New York, who defies his neighbors and his government in the bloody and contentious autumn of 1862. The great American critic Edmund Wilson praised Frederic’s creation as a brave and singular book that “differs fundamentally from any other Civil War fiction.

Copperhead is the great untold Civil War story. Far from the Virginia battlefields whose names etch our history, the war of

Copperhead visits the devastation and unimaginable loss of a civil war upon a family and a community whose strength and very existence are tested by fire, rope,

knife, and betrayal. This is the Civil War come home.

 

With Copperhead, director Ron Maxwell, who with Gettysburg and Gods and Generals established himself as our foremost cinematic interpreter of the American Civil War, takes on the War from a stunning and unexpected and richly, unforgettably humanist angle.

 

 

In addition, please be sure to check out links associated with the film:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo-j4_05bcI

http://www.facebook.com/CopperheadTheMovie

https://twitter.com/CopperheadMovie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404555/

http://www.copperheadthemovie.com/

 

 
 

 

 

 

Video Review--PBS American Experience Death and the Civil War

The PBS show American Experience has been broadcasting Death and the Civil War over the last week. The good people there were kind enough to send along a DVD review copy that I have been able to watch. Overall I was quite impressed.

Taking it's inspiration from Drew Gilpin Faust's excellent book This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library) this is a show that anybody interested in the Civil War should take the two hours needed to watch. While not breaking any new academic ground viewers can see photos of and hear the horror of the war. Despite early hopes this was not to be a quick event. With over 700,000 dead nearly every family in the country was affected.

Narration is broken up several ways. The main narrator is Oliver Platt and his voice lends a solemnity to the show befitting the subject. Letter excerpts are read by several others including Amy Madigan. Every documentary like this will have it's share of "talking heads" and this one is no exception. Dr. Faust of course plays a main role. Others, such as George Will, J. David Hacker, and Vincent Brown may or may not be known by viewers. I personally found the contribution by David Blight a highlight. I came to know of him after downloading a course of his from the Apple University site and find him to be an engaging speaker. I have not read any of his books so I can say what I feel about those however. Another surprisingly interesting speaker was Thomas Lynch. Lynch is an undertaker by trade but also an author of note. You can read an interesting, but older, interview with him here.

The video portion of the program is really quite haunting. The photos used are a nice mix of well known and those I have not seen before. The lighting of the whole program is done in such a manner as to constantly remind the viewer of the seriousness of the subject. The background music for the program should be payed attention to. It helps set the mood but at no point is it overwhelming. I was not familiar with the name Brian Keane until searching out the music credits here. He is however quite well known and has scored numerous films and documentaries and has won multiple major awards.

Overall the program is broken into six major subjects including: dying, burying, naming, believing and doubting, accounting, and remembering. A major question that is asked by the program is if it's citizens are expected to make the ultimate sacrifice (death) for the government what does the government owe to it's citizens who make this sacrifice. At the time of the war neither government was able or ready to answer this. Out of the war however came improved medical care including the formation of an ambulance service, an improved ability and desire to remove soldiers remains from the field and to identify them thus giving families closure, and with the formation of national cemeteries soldiers and their families are able to give a proper burial to their brave men (and now women).

Again, while not breaking any new ground this is a show I can highly recommend. The images and subject are likely to stick with you for quite a while after watching this. Be sure to check your local PBS station for times or watch it online at your convenience.