Film Movement, the distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films, announces today that THE LESSON, by directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov and winner of the Ingmar Berman Award at the Goteborg Film Festival, and THE CHAMBERMAID, by director Ingo Haeb and winner of the Fipresci Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival, will be released on DVD on September 1, 2015. THE LESSON “climaxes with a brilliant hair-trigger set piece that dramatizes the constant threat of disaster,” observes Slant Magazine, while The Hollywood Reporter calls THE CHAMBERMAID “brilliant.”
In THE LESSON, Nade is an honest, hard-working elementary school teacher and devoted mother, struggling to keep her life together in a small Bulgarian town. Her unemployed, alcoholic husband has secretly spent their mortgage payments on booze; the agency where she translates legal documents for extra cash is going under; and a thief in her class has stolen the last of her money out of her purse. With few options left, Nade turns to a local loan shark for help, but with the repossession of her home looming, she finds herself with little hope. Resorting to measures her former self would have found depraved, Nade attempts one last desperate act to get the money she needs.
THE CHAMBERMAID tells the story of Lynn, who is the most meticulous chambermaid in her hotel, leaving no shelf undusted and no sheet untucked. Crippled by shyness, she rummages through guests belongings and even hides under their beds, vicariously experiencing their conversations, meals, and discreet interludes. After clandestinely observing an S&M session, Lynn discovers the phone number of the call girl Chiara. Bold and unrestrained, Chiara soon draws Lynn out of her shell, opening her up to a new kind of passion she had only dreamed about as a voyeur.
Available to own at FilmMovement.com and other retailers, each DVD includes a bonus short film:
· Andrew Rodgers’ Crooked Candy (USA; 6 minutes) on THE LESSON
· Patrick Kieley’s Worlds Within (USA; 13 minutes) on THE CHAMBERMAID
Praise for THE LESSON includes:
“Quietly compelling human drama…[with] a commanding central performance from Margita Gosheva….You become completely captivated by her refusal to surrender to her fate.” – Allan Hunter, Screen Daily
“Aided by Gosheva’s convincing performance, Grozeva and Valchanov succeed in creating a captivating glimpse into the life of an average person forced to undergo extraordinary experiences.” – Stefan Dobroiu, Cineuropa
“[THE LESSON’s] emotional and psychological realism are airtight.” – Jessica Kiang, Indiewire
Praise for THE CHAMBERMAID includes:
“Rarely has fetishism been portrayed with such intense, empathetic attention to detail.” – Ronnie Scheib, Variety
“A surprisingly sweet and emotive experience.” – Chris Fyvie,The Skinny
“Writer-director Ingo Haeb has something odder and gentler in mind than the heavy psychodrama one expects.” – Ben Sachs, The Chicago Reader