City Lights Home Entertainment Secures North American Distribution Rights to Academy Award(R)-Winning Indie Classic ´Kiss of the Spider Woman´

NEW YORK, May. 09 /PRNewswire/ --

NEW YORK, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- City Lights Home Entertainment has acquired DVD, digital and television distribution rights to Academy Award(R)-Winning Indie Classic Kiss of the Spider Woman. The feature film starring William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sonia Braga, along with a surprising and never-before-seen feature length documentary "Tangled Web: Making Kiss of the Spider Woman", will be available on DVD, Blu-Ray and digitally for the first time in North America at a future date to be announced.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080509/NYF096 )

This groundbreaking film (the first independent ever to receive the top four Oscar(R) nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Hector Babenco), adapted for the screen by Academy Award(R) nominated screenwriter Leonard Schrader and produced by David Weisman from Manuel Puig's novel set in a non-specific Latin American country, takes a penetrating look at the role of sex and politics under an oppressive right-wing regime. The timeless story, more relevant today than ever, follows the complex relationship between two distinctly different men with opposite views about life -- building with powerful emotional crescendo as they gradually come together in a stunningly transcendental conclusion. Hurt delivers an Oscar(R)-winning performance in this captivating tribute to the power of film and fantasy as escape from inhumane conditions.

Sal Scamardo, President of City Lights Home Entertainment, said "'Kiss of the Spider Woman' is the award-winning feature film that changed the industry against all odds and symbolizes the pure spirit of independent filmmaking. As an emerging major independent film and video studio, City Lights Pictures and Home Entertainment is thrilled to preserve and promote that spirit by bringing this amazing film to market on DVD and Blu-Ray for the first time in North America for audiences to enjoy."

The deal was brokered by City Lights Home Entertainment President, Sal Scamardo and negotiated by Mark Ragone, EVP, Business Affairs for City Lights Media Group and attorney Chase Mellen III on behalf of the film's producer, David Weisman.

City Lights Home Entertainment, in partnership with Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corporation (WEA), acquires, produces, and distributes high quality entertainment fare for DVD and digital consumption. As an emerging independent theatrical and non-theatrical supplier, City Lights Home Entertainment is in the unique position to draw from its vast internal resources including its own theatrical film, television and digital production divisions, in addition to third-party co-production and distribution arrangements for video consumption around the world. Recent releases include: "The Ten", starring Paul Rudd, Jessica Alba and Winona Ryder, Rosario Dawson's "Descent", "Brooklyn Rules" starring Alec Baldwin, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning documentary "Manda Bala", Holocaust documentary "A Generation Apart", and the critically acclaimed foreign gem "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation", Brazil's Official Selection for the 2008 Academy Awards. For more information please visit www.citylightsmedia.com.