THE DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL® TO DEBUT FOUR DIVERSE FILMS
DURING NOVEMBER’S MONDAY NIGHT “PRIMETIME PREMIERES” SCHEDULE
“Family Inc.,” Mortal Lessons,” “Bus 174” and “Cash and Marry”
Make Network Debut Mondays At 9 P.M. ET/PT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 20, 2009) — The Documentary Channel (DOC) showcases an assorted cornucopia of documentaries in November during its Monday “Primetime Premieres” schedule, including three U.S. Television premieres and one network premiere.

The trio of U.S. television premieres includes: “Family Inc.” on Monday, Nov. 9, about Emily Ting’s dilemma of pursuing her dream filmmaking career in the U.S. or relenting to intense family pressure to take over the family’s notorious Hong Kong toy business; “Mortal Lessons” on Monday, Nov. 16, the story of two seriously ill women facing their mortality head on; and “Cash and Marry” on Monday, Nov. 30, uncovering the story of young immigrants–’Yugos’–doing anything they can to pursue their dream in the European Union. Also making its network debut will be “Bus 174” on Monday, Nov. 23, the terrifying story of what happened in Rio de Janeiro on June 12, 2000, when bus 174 was taken hostage by an armed man, threatening to shoot all the passengers, all played out live on television. All four documentaries are slated to be telecast at 9 p.m. ET/PT, respectively.

“We’re offering our viewers a wide variety of premieres in November - kind of a ‘buffet’ of styles and stories to meet people’s different tastes,” says Kate Pearson, The Documentary Channel senior vice president of programming. “From light hearted to serious and everything in between - all personal and fascinating tales.”

DOC is available on DISH Network (Channel 197), and several broadcast stations in major markets including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.

“Family Inc.” is the first title DOC will telecast from its new 10-documentary film package it secured with 7th Arts Releasing. When filmmaker Emily Ting was asked by her father to return to Asia and take over the family business, she didn’t exactly know how to say ‘no.’ Promising herself she would try it out for just one year, she traded in her friends, her filmmaking pursuits, and her love of New York for a grueling new life as a CEO in training in one of Hong Kong’s most notorious toy companies. Two years later, she’s still there – with no end in sight. In an attempt to come to terms with her new life, Emily turns the camera on herself and her family and the result is an incredibly honest and at times bittersweet family portrait that examines the price we pay when family and business become one.

“Mortal Lessons,” directed by David Liban, is about two women battling lung cancer on the surface, yet it is really about living life. Death is a topic people avoid speaking of as if to say that if we discuss death it will somehow make it happen sooner. We are a superstitious society and this avoidance may be hurting us more than helping us. If we know that death is inevitable, how do we go about making the best of the time we do have? This is the challenge of this film.

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“Bus 174,” a recipient of 10 major film festival awards, is a network premiere and the first DOC telecast from a 16-film package of award-winning documentaries distributed by Image Entertainment. Written and directed by José Padilha and co-directed by Felipe Lacerda, the documentary examines the tragedy that occurred June 12, 2000, in Rio de Janeiro when a young Brazilian took the passengers in Bus 174 hostage for a tragic episode that played out on live television over Brazilian TV networks. The turn of events became a shocking example of the incompetence by local law enforcement agencies to properly handle the situation, which appeared to be coming to a safe and peaceful conclusion until the misguided acts of a policeman changed everything.
“Cash and Marry” is a film directed by Atanas Georgiev, who is one of the main characters in the movie. He and his friend Marko from Sarajevo are two young men whose lives would be set to go, but for an annoying little problem with their papers. They need a European passport and they are prepared to do almost anything to get one, including buying a wife. With nothing but their brass necks and 7,000 Euros, they set out to find the woman of their dreams - one who will walk them down aisle and then hang around long enough for the divorce. An odyssey through Vienna’s immigrant netherworld, this real-life Green Card is the hilarious and touching insight into what it takes to jump the barriers of Fortress Europe. It is not a sociological study as much as it is a film about people in a difficult, extraordinary and often absurd situation. Through their examples “Cash & Marry” sheds light on the issue of immigration but with a fresh perspective.
About The Documentary Channel®: The Documentary Channel (DOC) is the USA’s first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and the independent documentary filmmaker, providing viewers with round-the-clock opportunities to see fascinating, eclectic and award-winning documentary films of all lengths and genres. For more information on DOC, visit www.documentarychannel.com.

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Contacts:

The Documentary Channel
Barry Smith / Cathy Vo / Bonnie Winings
SWPR Group
(818) 760-7131
bsmith@swprgroup.com / cvo@swprgroup.com / bwinings@swprgroup.com