A powerful and deeply human thriller that goes beyond the animal cause and stands against all forms of injustice.
Gravitas Ventures, an Anthem Sports & Entertainment Company, has acquired the North American rights to LIBERTY, written and directed by filmmaker Philippe De Witte and produced by Michel Gouzée de Harven, Jean-Christophe Van den Berg, Yves Merlin, and Michael Whalen. Deftly walking the line between Stephen King and Henry David Thoreau, Liberty features a breakout performance by Nicholas Michael McGovern and stars Alice Barrett (“Another World”), Olan Montgomery (“Stranger Things”), Denny Dale Bess (“Law & Order: SVU”), Samantha Smart (“Katy Keene”), Jonathan Kirkland (“Tulsa King”), and Andrea McKinnon (Boyhood). Liberty will be released digitally on November 21st.
In the environmental thriller Liberty, an idealistic park guide holds six strangers captive, treating them like caged animals, to deliver his chilling message of freedom to the world. As his hostages run the gamut from confusion and disbelief to anger and hostility to grief and despair, our anti-hero compares their mental and physical breakdown to those of wild animals struggling in captivity.
Liberty has played at a range of film festivals including the 2022 Burbank International Film Festival (Winner of Best Foreign Feature Film, Best Music Score – Musical Composition for a Feature Film, and nominee for Best Feature Film), 2022 Montreal Independent Film Festival (Winner of Best Thriller), 2022 Lonely Wolf International Film Festival (Winner of Best Feature Film, Best Thriller, Best Cast Ensemble, and Outstanding Achievement in Production Design), 2022 Dumbo Film Festival (Semi-finalist), and an official selection of the 2022 Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, among others.
“Liberty is a timely thriller, a personal take on animal welfare with larger themes of freedom and injustice. Audiences will be captivated during the film, but will also be thinking about it for a very long time,” stated Cameron Moore, Gravitas Ventures’ Senior Director of Theatrical Distribution.
Gravitas Ventures negotiated the deal directly with the filmmakers.
“We are extremely grateful to have Liberty widely distributed through our partnership with Gravitas Ventures,” said filmmaker Philippe De Witte. “Our goal was an entertaining thriller with deep social messaging, and we hope Liberty will stimulate meaningful conversation. We’re excited for the audience response.”
About Gravitas VenturesGravitas Ventures is a leading all rights distributor of independent feature films and documentaries. Founded in 2006, Gravitas connects independent filmmakers and producers with distribution opportunities across the globe. Working with talented directors and producers, Gravitas Ventures has distributed thousands of films into over a hundred million homes in North America – over one billion homes worldwide. Their recent wide theatrical release ‘Mack & Rita’ starring Academy Award Winner Diane Keaton released under the new label Gravitas Premiere. Recent Gravitas Venture releases include The King’s Daughter directed by Sean McNamara, Queen Bees directed by Michael Lembeck, Our Friend directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel, Vanguard, directed by Stanley Tong and starring Jackie Chan, The Secret: Dare to Dream, directed by Andy Tennant and starring Katie Holmes. For more information, please visit www.gravitasventures.com and follow @GravitasVOD on Twitter and @gravitasventures on Instagram.
About Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc.Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc. is a global multi-platform media company with offices and studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, Kansas City and Cleveland. Anthem’s portfolio includes AXS TV, a leading music, entertainment and lifestyle television channel and digital media company; global film distribution company Gravitas Ventures; Fight Network, the world’s premier combat sports channel with broadcast distribution across 10+ countries and available globally through multiple OTT platforms; IMPACT Wrestling, one of the world’s leading wrestling organizations; Invicta Fighting Championships, the world’s premier all-women mixed martial arts promotion; Game+, the leader in sports wagering, Esports and gaming content; GameTV, the home of game shows and competition-based reality series; and HDNet Movies, which features theatrically released films and documentaries. Anthem also has a significant ownership interest in Pursuit Channel, one of the top outdoor channels in the U.S. For more information, visit www.anthemse.com
