Award-winning documentary Our American Family opens this month

Our American Family opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles and Video on Demand. Photo: Giant Pictures, used with permission.

Our American Family will be released in the United States theatrically in New York (Cinema Village), Los Angeles (Laemmle Monica) on September 2 and on Video On Demand in the United States, Canada, UK, and major territories on September 6, both timed to National Recovery Month. Video on Demand platforms include US – Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Canada- Apple TV/iTunes, Google Play, and UK- Apple TV/iTunes. (Giant Pictures, 2022)

Winner of the Woodstock Film Festival 2021- Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Addiction is an all-encompassing force, in not only of the lives of the afflicted, but also those around them. Our American Family provides an honest, unfiltered look at a close-knit Philadelphia family dealing with generational substance abuse. Captured at a pivotal “nothing to lose” moment, for over the course of a year, five family members tired of life with addiction on center stage, each struggle to transcend their crippling histories.

What will it take to shift this entrenched, wrenching pattern in their lives? Will they be able to make significant shifts to help their next generation? The members of Our American Family invite us into their lives to find hope and to explore what is possible. Though they often falter, their familial loyalty is powerful, demonstrating how through love and dedication people can rise out of the deepest depths. For a touching, eye-opening look into one of America’s most pressing crises, look no further.

Our American Family opens in September timed to National Recovery Month, a national observance held every September to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the emergence of a strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and community members across the nation who make recovery in all its forms possible.

Hallee Adelman is a writer, filmmaker, and co-founder of World of HA Productions. She is an executive producer on the Emmy-winning documentary “The Social Dilemma,” and the Oscar-nominated international film “Writing with Fire.” Other titles include the Academy shortlisted, “The Truffle Hunters,” the Sundance premiere “UsKids,” and the soon to be released, “Art & Krimes by Krimes.” Recent festival premieres, “Aisha,” “Broadway Rising,” and “Your Friend, Memphis.” Adelman is a Board Member of the International Documentary Association. Adelman co-directed and produced Our American Family after a writing project deepened her connection with the brave participants featured in the film.

Feature Length Documentary / (USA) / 87 mins

Photo: Giant Pictures, used with permission.

New movie releases: September

The Alternate is one of the movies that will be available this September on digital platforms. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

A new month means a whole new batch of movies coming up in a variety of genres, from horror, to documentaries, and romance. I prefer science fiction movies dealing with time travel/alternate universes so The Alternate looks good to me, but below is a list of upcoming movies that will be available on digital platforms. (October Coast, 2022)

OUT NOW
We Are Gathered Here Today
Drama | Cinedigm | Digital Platforms (U.S, CANADA)
Director: Danny Boyd, Cast: Danny Huston, Lin Shaye, Phoebe Tonkin, Javicia Leslie
Synopsis: We Are Gathered Here Today is a film about a multi-generational mixed-race family coming together to say their last goodbye to the patriarch of the family, while at the same time dealing with other underlying issues that family gatherings can bring.

SEPTEMBER 2 (limited digital), SEPTEMBER 16 (global national digital release)
Surrogate
Paranormal thriller | Indie Rights | Digital Platforms (U.S, AU, UK, NZ, CANADA)
Director: David Willing, Cast: Kestie Morassi and Jane Badler
Synopsis: Written by Beth King and David Willing, in his feature directorial debut, Surrogate tells of Natalie Paxton (Morassi), a single mother and nurse, who falls mysteriously ill and struggles to stop her family from being destroyed.

Mister Limbo
Sci-fi/Comedy/Horror | Terror Films | Digital Platforms (U.S/CANADA)
Director: Robert G.Putka, Cast: Hugo de Sousa, Vig Norris, Cameron Dye, Hugo Armstrong
Synopsis: A young man in a parachute lands in the middle of a desert. He does not remember who he is or how he got there.

SEPTEMBER 6
Kingdom of the Dinosaurs
Sci-fi/Horror | Uncork’d Entertainment | Digital Platforms/DVD (U.S/CANADA)
Director: Scott Jeffrey, Cast: Mark Haldor, Darcie Rose, Chelsea Greenwood, Chrissie Wunna
Synopsis: In 2030 during World War III a small group of survivors make it into a bunker. Two years later they have to exit to find new supplies, but they are greeted by dinosaur predators.

Something in the Woods
Sci-fi/Horror | Uncork’d Entertainment | Digital Platforms/DVD (U.S/CANADA)
Director: Alex T. Hwang, Cast: Nicole Cinaglia, Robbie Dias
Synopsis: The creature feature tells of two women who battle a frightening monster in the woods and stars Nicole Cinaglia.

This Land
Drama/Documentary | Gravitas Ventures | Digital Platforms/DVD (U.S/CANADA)
Director: Matthew Palmer
Synopsis: From executive producer, Sundance and SXSW winner Jim Cummings (Thunder Road, The Beta Test), This Land is a film exploring six groups of Americans as they experience Election Day across the United States.

SEPTEMBER 13
Gameboy: The Movie
LGBTQ+/Romance | Dark Star Pictures | Digital Platforms/DVD (U.S/CANADA)
Director: Ivan Andrew Payawal, Cast: Kokoy de Santos and Elijah Canlas
Synopsis: Gamers turned lovers Cairo and Gavreel spend time together a few weeks before Cairo returns to his province. Their relationship is tested as they have to deal with distance, the pandemic, fate, and circumstance.

Greywood’s Plot
Horror-comedy | Terror Films | Digital Platforms (U.S, UK, AUSTRALIA, NZ, CANADA)
Director: Josh Stifter, Cast: Josh Stifter, Daniel Degnan
Synopsis: Two friends venture into a forest to see if a monster sighting is real. Has won acclaim on the festival circuit. Stifter’s follow-up to cult favorite The Good Exorcist.

The Alternate
Sci-fi/Thriller | Uncork’ d Entertainment | Digital Platforms/DVD (U.S, CANADA)
Director: Alrik Brussell, Cast: Ed Gonzalez Marino
Synopsis: Upon unlocking a portal to an alternate dimension where all his dreams have come true, struggling filmmaker Jake is forced to confront his idealized self.

SEPTEMBER 15
How Dark They Prey
Horror | Film Valor| Digital Platforms, WatchMoviesNow (U.S, CANADA)
Director: Jamison M. LoCascio and Adam Ambrosio, Cast: Josiah Schneider, Timothy Paul Jobe, and David Johnson.
Synopsis: Four dark tales about the haunting nature of man and the unknown from WWII to Alien investigation, finding the occult, and kidnap with torture, the highly anticipated horror anthology is written by Adam Ambrosio, Anthony LoCascio and Jamison M. LoCascio.

SEPTEMBER 30
The Wild Man
Horror | Terror Films| Digital Platforms (U.S, UK, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, CANADA)
Director: Ryan Justice, Cast: Michael Pare
Synopsis: Young women have been going missing in Ochopee, FL, without a single suspect in custody. A young journalist, Sara, convinces her crew to join her investigation as she travels to Ochopee to document her discoveries, but they soon realize their presence in this town is not welcome. Determined to find her story, Sara convinces her friends to stick with her, because they are onto something big. Upon meeting Dale, the town’s notorious conspiracy theorist, she is convinced he knows more than he is willing to share. The crew humors Dale’s ridiculous theories, even accompanying him into the Florida swamps on his quest to show them “The Wild Man,” hoping he will somehow reveal his guilt. But what the crew discovers is a secret much deeper than fairy tales and legends. What they discover is much darker and more sinister than they bargained for.