Kino Lorber has picked up U.S. rights to Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, a documentary on trailblazing Deaf Oscar winner Marlee Matlin that premiered at this year’a Sundance Film Festival.
The film, marking the directorial debut of Deaf actor and writer Shoshannah Stern, is slated for release in theaters on June 20.
Garnering the spotlight most recently with her role in Apple’s Best Picture winner CODA, spotlighting the Deaf community through the experiences of one family, Matlin broke out back in the ’80s, as she became the first Deaf actor to win an Oscar for her performance in Children of a Lesser God. Catapulted into the spotlight, she seized the moment to challenge an industry unprepared for her talent, emerging as a trailblazer not only as a performer, but also as an author and activist. Here, Matlin opens up about her personal and professional struggles – her rise to fame, the challenges of navigating a predominantly hearing industry, the pain of a tumultuous high-profile relationship, getting sober and years of being overlooked by Hollywood, alongside her many triumphs.
Of particular note is the fact that the film is told through the lens of Matlin’s primary language, American Sign Language. It’s produced by Robyn Kopp, Stern, Justine Nagan, and Bonni Cohen and executive produced by Michael Kantor, Carrie Lozano, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Patty Quillin, Adam Lewis, Melony Lewis, Bill Harnisch, and Ruth Ann Harnisch.
Set for the Tribeca Festival in June, the doc has also been an official selection of SXSW and the San Francisco Film Festival.
In a statement on the acquisition deal, Kino Lorber’s Chief Distribution & Revenue Officer Lisa Schwartz said, “I’ve long admired Marlee Matlin’s work on-screen, from her earliest breakthrough in Children of a Lesser God to her trailblazing TV roles to her more recent performance in CODA. But in watching Shoshannah Stern’s intimate, deeply moving documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, I’ve become an even greater admirer of her work off-screen. Marlee is a true force of nature, a fearless performer and tireless advocate whose lifetime of artistry and activism has broken countless barriers in Hollywood. We couldn’t be more thrilled to collaborate with Shoshannah, Marlee, and the whole team to bring this film to audiences across the US.”
Stated Stern, “As a child, movies were how I came to understand people who were different than me and spoke with their mouths, rather than with their hands. I’m awestruck to partner with Kino Lorber, who are long-time and passionate champions of the importance of storytelling through filmmaking. Because of them, people will now be able to watch Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore surrounded by others in theaters, rather than by themselves at home. This feels especially profound because one of the messages in our film is that none of us are meant to be alone.”
Kino Lorber VP of Acquisitions Karoliina Dwyer and Cleo Veger of Dogwoof negotiated the deal.
