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HORNS AND HALOS

- DOCUMENT COLLECTION -

"a rolling masterclass on the disturbing complicity of media, money and mendacity"

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in Canada: STREET DATE: 12/02/03
PREBOOK DATE: 10/27/03

DOCUMENTARY 79 min 2002 RATED: 14A

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www.hornsandhalos.com

SYNOPSIS:

Horns and Halos captures the unlikely connection of three men — a U.S. president, a discredited author and an underground publisher — whose paths to power and popularity become tangled in a book.

In October 1999, a short article appeared in the New York Times: St. Martin's Press recalled Fortunate Son, the first published biography of George W. Bush. At the time of its recall, the book was #8 on Amazon.com’s best-seller list — no doubt due to the book's widely publicized allegations that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972. However, Bush wasn’t the only one with a hidden past. Citing distrust of the author, J. H. Hatfield, the publisher pulled the book from stores after learning that he was a convicted felon.

Several weeks later, small underground imprint Soft Skull Press, the self-styled "punk of publishing," announced that it would re-publish the book. But getting Fortunate Son back on the shelves wouldn't prove so easy. Operating out of a tenement basement on New York City's Lower East Side, 29-year-old founder Sander Hicks struggled without significant success for over a year to get the book back into stores and into the national consciousness. After months of lawsuits, bad press, and disagreements with the distributor, Soft Skull made one final desperate attempt to make a splash at the 2001 Book Expo of America. Against the author's wishes, Hicks revealed the sources for the book's cocaine allegations, which leads to electrifying consequences.

Winner "Best Documentary" 2002 New York Undergound Film Festival Winner "Best Documentary" 2002 Chicago Underground Film Festival Official Selection 2002 Toronto International Film Festival Official Selection 2002 Rotterdam International Film Festival

"A near perfect manifestation of radical, DIY media intervention, the video doc 'Horns and Halos' could not be more timely - just as we hunker down for untold years of wartime sacrifice and imperialist self-rationalization, here is a David fable told by the barbarians at the Bush dynasty gate." -Michael Atkinson, VILLAGE VOICE

  "A thoughtful and surprisingly affecting portrait of a screwed-up man who dared to mess with some powerful people, seen through the eyes of the idealistic kid who chooses to champion his ultimately losing cause." - Michael O'Sullivan, WASHINGTON POST

"shocking… a rich tale of our times, very well told with an appropriate minimum of means." - Dave Kehr, NEW YORK TIMES

"the filmmakers uncover how the tough journalistic and business decisions of people under stress -- at times influenced by ego, greed and the genuine passion to expose the 'truth' -- can have a very human,tragic toll." Tim LaTorre, indieWIRE

"The tangled intersection of media, politics, money - and human intrigue -- is at the heart of breathlessly scruffy and absorbing indie docu ‘Horns and Halos’". - Eddie Cockrell, VARIETY

"reaches out to anyone interested in politics, publishing, or the uneasy marriage between big money and mass communication." - David Sterritt, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

"a fine, focused piece of work that reopens an interesting controversy and never succumbs to sensationalism." - Adam Nayman, EYE MAGAZINE

DVD FEATURES (TBC):

• DOCUMENT COLLECTION COLLECTION DVD — 2 DISKS
• 16x9 Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) from 35mm film elements
• Commentary track by Directors
• Deleted scenes
• 2 unedited feature interviews with author James Hatfield
• Extended scenes including protests at George Bush's Inauguration
• Performance footage of Sander Hicks and White Collar Crime
• KCET profile on Horns and Halos
• Rogers’ Reel to Real profile on Horns and Halos at The 2002 Toronto International Film Festival
• WNYU feature radio interview with Directors (60 min)
• Soft Skull Press Spotlight
• Short Film - Ralph Nader rally at Madison Square Garden
• Booklet insert with Directors Statement plus answers to six frequently asked questions about the film
• Optional Spanish subtitles
• Theatrical trailer



More Info: Email Glen Wood at Microfilms!
More Info at the Microfilms Website. >>