DOCUMENTARY | Soundview Media Partners LLC

Scarf Face

America is fascinated with its relationship to food. From Pizza to Bagels to yes… Hotdogs. But food as a sport? Yes… that too! And, it all started in Brooklyn in 1972 at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues.

SCARF FACE (originally titled ScarfFace) explores the world of competitive eating and the untold story behind the epic rivalry between America’s Joey Chestnut and Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi.

Organized for decades by George Shea’s Major League Eating Corporation, the annual Nathan’s hot dog eating contest at Coney Island has become the preeminent event for eaters worldwide – the start of their “fiscal eating” year – but not without its share of disturbing controversy, politics and perilous dangers to the human body.

The film follows various eaters at different career-levels over the course of 6 years – including Miki Sudo, Molly Schuyler, and Juan Morebite. Of equal importance, they discuss the sport, their lives, traditions, superstitions and overall health concerns, explaining how they ended up as contenders in this bizarre subculture.

Trivia:

Yes… it’s true… Joey Chestnut broke his own world record, eating 76 franks (in their buns) in just 10 minutes. It was his 14th victory, beating his previous of only 75 franks.
Major League Eating (MLE) — the organization that oversees professional eating contests — began paying cash prizes to top finishers in 2007. In 2021, the total prize money is $40,000: The men’s division winners get $20,000, and the women’s division winners get $20,000.

The DVD version features some relish (aka bonus material) including a Filmmaker Commentary along with Deleted Scenes

2021 / 77 minutes / color / English / A film by Joseph Ruzer and Sean Slater.

HOW TO ORDER:

Public Performance and Digital Site Licenses are available through Soundview Media Partners. To inquire or to place an order, write to info@soundviewmediapartners.com or simply choose from the options below:

DSL’s available now. DVD w/PPR shipping mid-May 2022.

For group screening prices, please inquire.

In-home/personal use copies are available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HzbaVe

Watch the trailer

They Survived Together

“I had my red hat. It was like… like something that kept me safe.”– Hanka Neiger Ablin.

Winner for Best Historical Documentary, New York Emmy’s 2022 following its WNET-NY Broadcast Premier (Dec. 2021). They Survived Together is a true story of endurance, unity and hope…

“Horrifying eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust eventually lead to an inspiring story of one family banding together to survive the evils of Nazism. [An] extraordinary story of strength and courage.” – Irv Slifkin, Film Critic

“They Survived Together” is the incredible, true story of the Neiger family as they desperately tried to stay alive… and together… as a family with four small children, escaping certain death at the hands of the Nazis.

When Nazi soldiers forced them from their home in Krakow and into the harsh life of the Ghetto, the elders of the family made a vow… they would somehow escape together and survive as a family.

How the family escapes is extraordinary. Their trek to freedom involved forged documents, help along the way from non-Jews who risked their lives to protect them, and a difficult journey to Hungary where they they ended up imprisoned. Ultimately, the Niegers beat the odds and became the one of the few families to survive the Holocaust intact.

Broadcast Premier via WNET NY (Dec. 2021) resulted in an EMMY Nomination (results coming October 2022)
Winner: Best Documentary Feature – Chicago Indie Film Awards
Winner: Best Directors – Euro Film Festival Geneva
Winner: Best US Documentary – International Golden Age Festival
Winner: Best Documentary Feature – SoCal Film Awards

2021 / 75 minutes / Color and Black & White / English / A film by John Rokosny.

HOW TO ORDER:

Public Performance and Digital Site Licenses are available through Soundview Media Partners. To inquire or to place an order, write to info@soundviewmediapartners.com or simply choose from the options below:

For group screening prices, please inquire.

In-home/personal use copies are available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3GHH7vD

Watch the trailer

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror

“An all-encompassing history of the cinematic sub-genre of Folk Horror, it is, to say the least, a definitive work that has already won multiple awards.” – Mark Hudson, Film Critic.

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched explores the folk horror phenomenon and its culturally specific manifestations in international horror, from its first wave in the 1970s to today. Clocking in at a whopping 192 minutes, the film has been hailed as “stunning” (Diabolique Magazine), “brilliant” (AV Club) and “mind-blowingly epic” (Film Threat), and stands as perhaps the definitive genre documentary of our time.

From writer/director/co-producer Kier-La Janisse comes “a seductive mega-text” (Indiewire) through the history of folk horror featuring clips from over 200 films and interviews with more than 50 filmmakers, authors and scholars that explore the rural roots, occult creeds and cultural lore that continue to shape international cinema. The film presents this “astounding achievement” (Screen Anarchy) – also featuring an original score by Jim Williams (A Field in England), animation by Ashley Thorpe (Borley Rectory) and collage sequences by Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg) – that Rue Morgue calls “an unprecedented journey into where folk horror has been, where it’s going and ultimately what it says about humanity.”

Among its awards are:

SXSW Film Festival: Midnighters Audience Award Winner
Winner: Best Documentary at the Chattanooga Film Festival
Winner: Gold Audience Award for Best Documentary at Fantasia International Film Festival

“Janisse’s feature debut is a remarkable effort that’s on par with the thoughtful analysis she’s put into horror through other mediums. It’s a wide-ranging probe into a subgenre that offers insight for even the most studied genre academic.” — Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting

Janisse conducted over 50 interviews with filmmakers, actors/actresses and more during the production. Included, but certainly not limited to, are segments including:

Kevin Kölsch (Director: Pet Sematary)
Dennis Widmyer (Director, Editor, Writer: Starry Eyes)
Piers Haggard (Director: Venom)
Alice Lowe (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch)
Amanda Reyes (Tales of the Uncanny)
Kate Ellinger (Writer: The Birth of Hammer Horror)
Gail-Nina Anderson (Sleepworking)
Mariano Baino (Director: Dark Waters)
Richard Blackburn (Writer: Eating Raoul)
Lawrence Gordon Clark (Director: The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game)
Mattie Do (Director: The Long Walk)
Ian Ogilvy (I, Claudius, Wuthering Heights)
Winnie Cheung (Digital Image Technician: Scare Package)
Chad Crawford Kinkle (Director, Writer: Jug Face)
- The incredible list of those involved goes on…

“For those aching for the return to the frenzied energy, passionate arguments, and exuberant love of cinema that in-person film festivals casually offer, WOODLANDS DARK & DAYS BEWITCHED is a sensational substitute!” — Kristy Puchko, RogerEbert.com

Documentary / 2021 / 192 minutes / A film by Kier-La Janisse

HOW TO ORDER:

Public Performance and Digital Site Licenses are available through Soundview Media Partners. To inquire or to place an order, write to info@soundviewmediapartners.com or simply choose from the options below: