FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“It works beautifully on every level: cinematography, editing, music, emotion, a great blend of historical with contemporary film-clip footage, all seamlessly woven together by dialog in which only the players speak and not one word is wasted. What a wonderful accomplishment.”
– Peter Caranicas, Variety

NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY
LASZLO & VILMOS
TWO HEROES. ONE ROAD

“When it comes to Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, it’s clear that the American New Wave of the late 1960′s and early ’70s wouldn’t have flowered as it did without them.” – Leonard Maltin, Film Critic/ Historian

AVAILABLE ON DVD AND DIGITAL DOWNLOAD PLATFORMS ON FEBRUARY 28, 2012
LOS ANGELES (January 26, 2012)- László Kovács, ASC and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, life long friends, Hungarian refugees and revolutionary cinematographers, were true pioneers of their craft and what came to be known as the American New Wave. In 1956, they escaped from Hungary during the Soviet invasion and made their way to Hollywood to pursue their common dream to make movies. On February 28, 2012, Cinema Libre Studio will release James Chressanthis’ Emmy® Award-nominated NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LASZLO & VILMOS on DVD and digital platforms.

The film showcases the lives and careers of two men who “left one revolution behind only to create another,” says director and Emmy® nominated cinematographer James Chressanthis, ASC (FOUR MINUTES, LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND). In his feature debut NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LASZLO & VILMOS, chronicles the 50 plus years of friendship that Kovács and Zsigmond shared and the contributions they made to cinema. These two Hungarian film students fled Budapest when the Russian army brutally suppressed an uprising against the communist regime. They documented the brutal attack and carried the film across the border into Austria so the free world could see what happened. They thought life in Hollywood would be less complicated compared to what they had just endured, but to their dismay it was only the beginning of their struggles. They were rejected by various industry organizations and were told to come back when they learned English. In order to get jobs they had to make sacrifices, they even changed their names to William (Willie) and Leslie to make them easier for Americans to pronounce.

Kovács and Zsigmond began working in Hollywood on low budget horror and biker films while freelancing as photographers. They rose to prominence in the late 60s and 70s. Kovács’ breakthrough was in 1969 when he shot EASY RIDER, starring and directed by Dennis Hopper. The low budget film was nominated for two Academy Awards®. Kovács served as the director of photography on more than 70 motion pictures including; FIVE EASY PIECES, TARGETS, PAPER MOON, GHOSTBUSTERS, MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING and MISS CONGENIALITY. In 2002, Kovács received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC. He passed away in 2007 and is survived by his wife Audrey and his two daughters, Julianna and Nadia, who appear in the film.

Zsigmond earned his fame after shooting Robert Altman’s McCABE & MRS. MILLER, THE LONG GOODBYE and then later won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for Steven Spielberg’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Zsigmond’s body of work includes THE DEER HUNTER, THE RIVER and THE BLACK DAHLIA, all three of which he earned Academy Award nominations for. In 1999, Vilmos received the Lifetime Achievement award from the ASC and in 2003, the International Cinematographers Guild placed Zsigmond among the ten most influential cinematographers in history. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and has screened at over thirty-five film festivals in twenty countries.

NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LASZLO & VILMOS pays homage to these accomplished cinematographers. Hollywood’s finest willingly donated their time and efforts to honor these two men who helped inspire them to create movies. The film features interviews with Hollywood’s top talent including; Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Fonda, Sharon Stone, Tatum O’Neal, Jon Voight, Haskell Wexler, Karen Black, John Williams and many more. Produced by Tony Frere, Zachary Kranzler and Kian Soleimanpour with Executive Producer Dr. David B. Kaminsky, the film was also created in part by two up-and-coming women in the industry: Editor Elisa Bonora and Cinematographer Anka Malatynska. Director James Chressanthis said, “This is truly an independent film and we received remarkable support from across the Hollywood community to bring their legendary story to a wider audience.”

SYNOPSIS:
They left one revolution behind only to create another. László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond filmed and survived the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, immigrated in poverty to America, helped each other up the ladder out of the underbelly of Hollywood all the while holding onto their dreams. After ten years of no-budget toil, László’s camera broke Hollywood’s rules with EASY RIDER. Suddenly in demand, he recommended Vilmos to both Peter Fonda and Robert Altman where Zsigmond poured his “poetic realism” into THE HIRED HAND and MCCABE & MRS. MILLER. They were the go-to camera guys of the New Hollywood.

Among their 140 credits, Laszlo shot FIVE EASY PIECES, PAPER MOON, SHAMPOO, FRANCES, GHOSTBUSTERS and MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING and Vilmos lensed SCARECROW, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, CINDERELLA LIBERTY, THE ROSE, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, BLOW OUT, THE DEER HUNTER and HEAVEN’S GATE all the while elevating the visual style of our movies.

This film has many threads: social, political and artistic. It is a Cold War story, an American immigrant story and a glamorous, Hollywood success story where dreams do come true. This is an intimate portrait of two giants of modern image-making and their deep bond of brotherhood that transcended every imaginable boundary. Two heroes. One road. www.laszloandvilmos.com | Facebook | Twitter

DVD DETAILS: SRP: $19.95 | TRT: 86 minutes | UPC: 881394114920 | Genre: Documentary

OVER 45 MINUTES OF DVD EXTRAS:
• The birth of EASY RIDER – A tribute to Dennis Hopper, featuring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Karen Black.
• Actor Master Class with Karen Black on EASY RIDER and FIVE EASY PIECES • Drugs on EASY RIDER with Peter Sorel
• Director of Master Class with Bob Rafelson on HEAD, EASY RIDER and FIVE EASY PIECES
• Peter Bogdanovich on László

DIGITAL ASSETS:
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCo54m3BYIs
Embed/Download Clips: http://vimeo.com/album/1815076
High Res Box Art: http://www.cinemalibrestudio.com/clscatalog/2012/NoSubtitleNecessary_3D_HR.jpg
Low Res BoxArt: http://www.cinemalibrestudio.com/clscatalog/2012/NoSubtitleNecessary_3D_LR.jpg

ABOUT CINEMA LIBRE: Cinema Libre Studio a leader in the distribution of social issue documentaries and features by passionate filmmakers. The Cinema Libre team has released over one hundred films including the Sundance Audience Award‐Winning FUEL, THE END OF POVERTY?, Oliver Stone’s SOUTH OF THE BORDER, THE HARVEST/ LA COSECHA by executive producer Eva Longoria and Rachid Bouchareb’s DUST OF LIFE, LITTLE SENEGAL and LONDON RIVER, which is currently playing in U.S. theatres. The studio is developing John Perkins’ best‐selling memoirs, CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, into a major motion picture. www.cinemalibrestudio.com | Updates | Facebook | Twitter

For screener and interview requests contact: Cassie Brewer, cbrewer (at) cinemalibrestudio (dot) com
For screenings, grassroots and educational use contact: screening (at) cinemalibrestudio (dot) com