Press release

Montreal — Tuesday, 20 November 2007 — Atopia is proud to announce that it will be releasing Robert Morin’s celebrated and controversial film Pow! Pow! Noël on DVD across North America on Dec 4, 2007. The film, which was given a 4-star rave in La Presse, was hailed by the Montreal Mirror as “exceptionally powerful" and was bronzed in the pages of 24 Images Magazine as "personal, definitive, inspired and inspiring", is an extraordinary and brave take on verite filmmaking from one of Quebec’s most provocative directors.

Pow! Pow! Noël is shot from the point-of-view of a broken man disintegrating on the razors edge of a breakdown on Christmas eve. He visits his father — who is near-death in a hospital — in order to put him on trial, and ultimately, execute him, for the hells his family has endured. The twist? Filmmaker Morin co-stars opposite his actual father, who was, in fact, on the verge of death. The film was shot in the actual terminal care ward in which he was being treated. Morin and his father each played variations of themselves, blurring the lines in ways that are positively astonishing. By the time the film was being edited, Morins father had already passed away. This is a film of enormous emotional force, and a haunting one-of-kind in the annals of personal verite cinema.

Look for DVD release: Pow! Pow! Noël, in Canadian stores on December 4th, 2007 at the retail price of $29.98. For further information, please visit Atopia’s official website at http://www.atopia.com/ or e-mail us with screener of publicity requests at info@atopia.com.

Atopia Distribution releases its in-house productions as well as a selection of equally insightful films to audiences across the US and Canada (Missing Victor Pellerin, On the Trail of Igor Rizzi, The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez, Imitation). Daring and original, our films are critically-acclaimed features, which, in order to give the richest tour, are screened at major festivals around the world, then released in art-house and commercial theatres to garner wide media exposure prior to launching them on DVD and the internet.

News posted Tuesday, November 20, 2007.