New York, NY (December 14, 2005) – With Felicity Huffman’s Golden Globe nomination, IFC Films and The Weinstein Company’s Transamerica has emerged as a major participant in the 2005 awards season. The film, directed by Duncan Tucker, focuses on the poignant journey of a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, and has garnered seventeen nominations/awards.
“Felicity Huffman’s tour de force performance as Bree is blindingly brilliant and is sure to be one of the most admired screen performances this year,” commented IFC Entertainment President Jonathan Sehring. “We are thrilled to be working with The Weinstein Company on this thoughtful film and delighted for this truly gifted actress and visionary director.”
The Golden Globe Best Actress nomination follows Huffman’s National Board of Review win for Best Actress, a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for Female Lead, the Broadcast Film Critics nomination for Best Actress and Hollywood Life Magazine’s “Breakthrough of the Year Award.” The Emmy Award winning actress was also honored at a number of local and international film festivals including Tribeca, Berlin, Frameline, Woodstock, Mill Valley and Fort Lauderdale.
Transamerica took a second Golden Globe nomination and Broadcast Film Critics nomination for Best Original Song, Dolly Parton’s ‘Travelin’ Thru.’ The film was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
Transamerica focuses on Bree (Felicity Huffman), a born-again Christian and a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, who flies to New York after she discovers she has a son from an unlikely encounter. Greeting the boy in the guise of a Christian missionary, Bree attempts to deliver him to his stepfather while on their way back to Los Angeles.
In addition to Huffman, the cast includes Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan, Elizabeth Pena and Graham Green. William H. Macy exec produced the film with Linda Moran, Rene Bastian and Sebastian Dungan producing through the Belladonna label.
The film bowed at The 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was acquired shortly after the close of the festival by The Weinstein Company. The film is co-distributed by The Weinstein Company and IFC Films and was released in theaters on December 2, 2005 premiering at the IFC Center in New York. Huffman won an acting award at Tribeca and the film was also honored at the Berlin Film Festival with a Reader Jury Award.
The Weinstein Company has a broad strategic alliance with Rainbow Media Holdings, the parent company of IFC Films. Under the agreement, The Weinstein Company is the exclusive home video distributor for IFC Films and foreign sales agent for the indie studio. IFC also co-distributed the Weinstein produced box office phenomenon Fahrenheit 9/11.
ABOUT IFC ENTERTAINMENT
IFC Films is a leading theatrical film distribution company bringing the best of independent and specialized films to theaters. IFC Films releases approximately 10 films per year, building its slate of titles from an aggressive acquisitions program and selected in-house productions. IFC Films is part of IFC Entertainment, which also consists of IFC Productions, InDigEnt (a digital production arm) and the new IFC Center in Greenwich Village.
The company produced and distributed the award winning Me And You And Everyone We Know, which is currently in release across the country. Lars von Trier ‘s Manderlay and Pierrepoint starring Timothy Spall are among the upcoming releases. IFC Films is executive produced Night Listener with Hart Sharp which will have its world premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and also produced Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding, which the banner will also distribute.
Notable IFC films include the Academy Award winning Boys Don’t Cry, Touching the Void which broke box office records to become among the top ten grossing documentaries of all time, 2003 Oscar ? -nominated My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu Mama Tambien. IFC Films co-distributed Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.
For more information and upcoming releases, please visit www.ifcfilms.com .