PR: Elena on DVD Oct 30

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Release Date: October 24, 2012, 7:24 am
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Sixty-ish spouses Vladimir and Elena uneasily share his palatial Moscow apartment--he's a still-virile, wealthy businessman; she's his former nurse who has clearly married up. Estranged from his own wild-child daughter, Vladimir openly despises his wife's freeloading son and family. But when a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten the dutiful housewife's potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan....

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A CHILLING NOIR FOR THE PUTIN ERA: Elena COMES TO DVD/DIGITAL OCT 30TH
New York (Sept 27, 2012) -- Winner of Cannes Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize and four Russian Oscars (Nikas), Elena is a classic noir thriller with a gripping, modern twist. Theatrically released in more than 100 U.S. markets following its Spotlight Premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, it's also one of the most acclaimed foreign titles of the year.



Sixty-ish spouses Vladimir and Elena (European Film Award nominee Nadezhda Markina) uneasily share his palatial Moscow apartment--he's a still-virile, wealthy businessman; she's his former nurse who has clearly married up. Estranged from his own wild-child daughter, Vladimir openly despises his wife's freeloading son and family. But when a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten the dutiful housewife's potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan....

Beautifully crafted by acclaimed Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev (Golden Globe nominee The Return) and featuring evocative, Hitchcockian music by composer Philip Glass, Elena is a subtly stylish exploration of crime, punishment and human nature.

Zeitgeist's DVD edition of Elena streets October 30, 2012; day and date with iTunes and Netflix Instant. For sale in the U.S. only with an SRP of $29.99.

Zeitgeist's DVD Edition of Elena features a gorgeous HD master, enhanced for widescreen viewing; plus 5.1 and stereo soundtracks. DVD extras include a 30-minute interview with director Andrey Zvyagintsev; a making-of video on the poster screenprint; and the U.S. theatrical trailer.

2012 * 109 minutes * Russia * Color * In Russian with optional English subtitles * 2.35:1 aspect ratio * Not Rated * Cat no. Z1146 * UPC 795975114639 * DVD SRP $29.99

Celebrating almost 25 years as one of America's preeminent independent distributors, New York-based Zeitgeist Films has built an impressively diverse catalogue of foreign, documentary and arthouse titles by such renowned directors as Todd Haynes, the Quay Brothers, Olivier Assayas, Abbas Kiarostami, Guy Maddin, Atom Egoyan, Agnes Varda, Margarethe von Trotta, Francois Ozon, Derek Jarman, Jia Zhangke, Peter Greenaway, Yvonne Rainer, Philippe Garrel, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Carlos Saura, Kirby Dick and Jan Svankmajer. Recent and upcoming releases include: Let My People Go!, a raucous French comedy starring Almodovar leading lady Carmen Maura co-scripted by Christophe Honore; Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters, a new documentary about the famed photographer; Elena, the thrilling new film noir from Cannes-winning Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return); The Salt of Life, Gianni Di Gregorio's hilarious follow-up to his 2010 crowd-pleaser Mid-August Lunch; Bill Cunningham New York, the hit documentary on eponymous legendary NY Times fashion photog. In August 2010, Zeitgeist became the exclusive home media distributor of KimStim, an eclectic Brooklyn-based arthouse label with a library of 50+ films from groundbreaking directors including Alain Resnais, Raul Ruiz, Andre Techine, Chantal Akerman, Bela Tarr, Christophe Honore, Hong Sang-Soo, Franccois Ozon, Laurent Cantet, Seijun Suzuki, Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Otar Iosseliani.
247 centre street floor 2 nyc ny 10013

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR "ELENA""BRILLIANT. Post-Soviet Russia in Andrei Zvyagintsev's somber, gripping film Elena is a moral vacuum where money rules, the haves are contemptuous of the have-nots, and class resentment simmers." --Stephen Holden, The New York Times (Critic's Pick) "NERVE-RATTLING. A thriller about the shifting moral calculus in a world where money changes everything." --Steve Dollar The Wall Street Journal "SPELLBINDING AND IMPECCABLY CRAFTED. In Elena, survival has its price, if not its punishment." --Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times "AN INTENSELY COMPELLING SLICE OF NOIR about moral rot and class warfare in post-Soviet Russia." --Ella Taylor, NPR "MESMERIZING. A mysterious existential thriller that's brilliantly acted and masterfully directed, without a second of wasted screen time." --Andrew O'Hehir, Salon "AN ENGROSSING THRILLER. A nicely noirish, cynically satisfying drama set in a gritty, urban Moscow that would otherwise not seem to be a haven for wildlife." --Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post "A QUIET, SUBTLE MYSTERY whose long, penetrating takes have drawn comparisons to Andrei Tarkovsky and whose mordantly ironic conclusion may remind you of Claude Chabrol." --J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader "WELL-WROUGHT, REFINED NOIR, which spins slowly on the streams of dog-eat-dog survival." --Kim Chun, San Francisco Bay Guardian "CHEKOV ON STEROIDS. Simple, gripping, suspenseful." --Janos Gereben, San Francisco Examiner "A THING OF SEVERE AND CHILLY BEAUTY, directed by the prodigiously talented Andrei Zvyagintsev." --Ty Burr, The Boston Globe "A QUIET, POWERFUL FILM about the lengths we'll go to for the sake of the people we love--and the depths we'll sink to for the sake of the ones we hate." --Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald "A GRIM, EFFECTIVE ALLEGORY OF THE DAILY WHIRL IN PUTINLAND." --Gerald Peary, Boston Phoenix "TACITURN CAMERAWORK AND A SCALPEL-LIKE PRECISION dissecting class that recalls Claude Chabrol.... --Nick Pinkerton, The Village Voice "SHOOT THIS FILM IN BLACK AND WHITE and cast Barbara Stanwyck as Elena, and you'd have a 1940s classic." --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times "IF ZOLA WERE A RUSSIAN IN RUSSIA TODAY, HE MIGHT HAVE WRITTEN ELENA." --Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic

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News Editor October 24, 2012, 7:24 am