Gravitas Ventures to Distribute Award-Winning Documentary ‘My Father’s Vietnam’
Providence, RI (March 21, 2016) – Indie film distributor Gravitas Ventures acquired video on demand (VOD) and home video rights to “My Father’s Vietnam,” a new documentary from director Soren Sorensen.
“My Father’s Vietnam,” which won the Soldiers and Sacrifice Grand Prize at the 2015 Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF), will be released on VOD platforms on May 24, 2016 with a DVD release to follow this summer.
“We’re just thrilled,” said director Soren Sorensen on behalf on his small cast and crew. “All we ever wanted for this film was for it to find an audience. With Gravitas Ventures on board, the film will reach more people than we ever thought possible.”
Glen Reynolds and Alex Nohe of Circus Road Films negotiated the terms of the licensing agreement with Gravitas Ventures' Acquisitions Manager Michael Lange.
Given Gravitas Ventures’ recent success with Rory Kennedy’s 2014 Academy Award® nominated “Last Days in Vietnam,” Sorensen’s film was a natural fit.
“Gravitas is honored to be collaborating with Soren Sorensen to share the story of ‘My Father’s Vietnam,’” said Michael Lange. “It’s an incredibly impactful and personal documentary that we are proud to share with audiences across North America.”
The film, Sorensen’s first feature-length effort, focuses on the filmmaker’s father, Peter Sorensen, and two men he served with who were killed in Vietnam in 1970. “My Father’s Vietnam,” which earlier this year took home Best Picture (Documentary) at the 2016 Flagler Film Festival in Florida, deliberately eschews sensationalism in favor of subtlety.
“The Vietnam Era is the backdrop for a lot of big, infamous movies,” said Sorensen. “I deliberately made a quieter, more intimate Vietnam War film not only about my father’s year in Vietnam but also about our country’s connection to war in a broad sense.”
The director added, “The film is really about war’s destructive impact on human relationships before, during and after these wars are waged.”
Since its world premiere last August at RIIFF, screenings at festivals all over the country have resulted in tearful interactions, expressions of empathy and deeply moving reflections among Vietnam Veterans and their loved ones.
Sorensen concluded, “As personal as the film is, I think I learned that my family’s story is not at all uncommon. This isn’t just my father’s story or my story. It’s everyone’s story.”
Free screenings in Vermont this month – Shelburne on the 24th and Essex Junction on the 28th – are being organized by Rik Carlson, brother-in-law of Loring Bailey, Jr., one of the film’s principal subjects. Carlson spearheaded publication of “Calm Frenzy: One Man’s Vietnam War,” a collection of Bailey’s letters home from the Vietnam War. For information about Vermont screenings or to purchase the book, please visit www.calmfrenzy.com.
ABOUT SOREN SORENSEN
Soren Sorensen is an award-winning filmmaker and composer of original music for film, television and web. Sorensen is co-creator, director and editor of Harvesting Rhode Island, a Rhode Island PBS series on the subject of local food and farming. Sorensen is an adjunct professor of Film Studies at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI and Screen Studies at Clark University in Worcester, MA. He also teaches directing and sound design at New York Film Academy’s summer program at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.
ABOUT GRAVITAS VENTURES
Gravitas Ventures is a leading all rights distributor of independent cinema. Founded in 2006, Gravitas connects independent filmmakers and producers with distribution opportunities across the globe. Working with more than 500 content partners, Gravitas Ventures has distributed thousands of films into over 100 million homes. Their most recent releases include Colin Hanks’ “All Things Must Pass,” “Being Evel” from Academy Award® winning director Daniel Junge and producer Johnny Knoxville, “Bleeding Heart” starring Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet, “Backstreet Boys: Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of,” and “Barney Thomson” starring Robert Carlyle and Emma Thompson. For more information, please visit www.gravitasventures.com and follow @GravitasVOD on Twitter and @gravitasventures on Instagram.
