New in Theatres:
"Songcatcher"
and "Russian Doll"

The time is 1907. Lily Penleric, a woman ahead of her time, has just been passed over yet again for a university promotion, despite her academic achievements. Frustrated and determined to get the recognition she deserves, she heads to Appalachia, dragging an impossibly bulky, primitive recording device far into the hill country, with a plan to record music never heard before. There she joins her sister Elna (portrayed by Tony Award-winner Jane Adams), who runs a local schoolhouse - and quickly butts her head against the fiercely insular and protective mountain ways.

Here, the story takes a left turn into the wild-hearted culture of the Appalachian mountains, as Lily worms and wheedles her way into the world where American roots music was born, a place of hardscrabble farmers, daring, illegal bootleggers and palpable magic. Some of contemporary music's most exciting artists including Iris Dement, Taj Mahal and Hazel Dickens also star, along with music by such legends as Emmylou Harris bringing to life the raw and transcendentally lyric ballads and tunes of Appalachia.

Under the shotgun-toting tutelage of local expert Viney Butler (played by Grammy and Emmy Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee Pat Carroll) and the scarlet-throated orphan Deladis Slocumb (Emmy Rossum), Lily begins to learn about the local music and starts to record their haunting songs. But Lily cannot help but also become privy to the mountain people's struggles - from marital squabbles and run-away husbands to the community's fight to save their land from greedy coal companies. Not everyone in the hill-country is cooperative, including the rough local musician Tom Bledsoe (the acclaimed Aidan Quinn), who accuses Lily - now known far and wide as "The Songcatcher" - of exploiting the locals. But as Tom comes to see Lily's strength and passion for the music, and Lily begins to feel Tom's deep loyalty for his people, mutual respect and romance blossom.

The fires are not confined to Lily's romantic life, though, and when disaster strikes hard at the very core of her mountain community and her own ambitions, Lily is faced with a choice: to remain an outsider forever or to join the musical, spirited community of the mountain people she has grown to admire.

Release Date: Limited release in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, June 15, 2001
Written & Directed By: Maggie Greenwald
Produced By: Ellen Rigas Venetis and Richard Miller
Musical Director/Composer: David Mansfield
Starring: Janet McTeer, Aidan Quinn, Pat Carroll, Jane Adams, Greg Russell Cook, Iris DeMent, Stephanie Roth Haberle, David Patrick Kelley, E. Katherine Kerr, Taj Mahal, Muse Watson, and Emmy Rossum.
Rated PG-13 for sexual content and an intense scene of childbirth.


Synopsis - "Russian Doll"
Harvey (Hugo Weaving), a self-doubting private investigator, plans to marry his girlfriend until he is hired to solve an adultery case and discovers the adulterer is cheating with his fiancée. Lost and dejected, Harvey quits his job and wallows in booze and the occasional odd blind date. Meanwhile, Katia (Natalia Novikova), a Jewish woman from St. Petersburg, arrives in Sydney after answering an ad from an international matchmaking agency. But instead of love, she finds her prospective groom dead on arrival. Stranded in a foreign city with no one to turn to, Katia meets Ethan (David Wenham), a married man and Harvey’s best friend. Ethan is soon scheming to figure out a way to keep Katia in the country without his wife Miriam (Rebecca Frith) discovering the affair. Ethan comes up with the perfect solution: he offers Harvey enough money to start writing the novel he has always dreamed of, if he agrees to marry Katia.

Harvey is appalled by the idea. Ethan’s marriage had been his only example that love can faithfully exist. However, since he needs the money to get started on the book, he reluctantly agrees to let Katia move in. But soon this "marriage of convenience" is anything but, as Miriam learns about the upcoming nuptials and is so pleased that her husband’s best friend has finally found someone, she insists on turning the wedding into a grand affair. Inevitably, Ethan and Harvey’s friendship is tested and hidden emotions are revealed between Harvey and Katia. Amid all the chaos of planning the wedding, every one is left to wonder, is this any way to find true love?

Release Date: Premieres June 15, 2001 in New York. Opens in additional cities on July 20th, 2001.
Directed By: Stravos Kazantzidis
Written By: Stravos Kazantzidis and Allanah Zitserman
Produced By: Allanah Zitserman
Cinematographer: Justin Brickle
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Natalia Novikova, David Wenham, Rebecca Frith, Sacha Horler, and Helen Dallimore.
Official Lot 47 Films Site: "Russian Doll"