Janson Media today announced the release to worldwide television and video markets of DISARM, a new one-hour documentary. DISARM is a provocative and contemporary film that spans a dozen countries to look at how, despite a global ban, millions of antipersonnel mines worldwide continue to claim victims daily.Looking beyond mines, DISARM offers a critical investigation into how weapons systems, war, and the way it is waged are being redefined in the 21st century with devastating consequences. Visually stunning, DISARM features harrowing footage smuggled out of Burma, scenes from wartorn Colombia and Iraq, helmet-camera footage shot by Afghan deminers, and insight from outspoken Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams. A review in Swindle Magazine said, “The film has a slow-burning aesthetic that is more art-rock than National Geographic… With little didactic guidance, the images have the complex power of the best photojournalism, ambiguous and multi-layered in a way that forces the audience to interpret on its own.” Earlier this month DISARM received an outstanding achievement in filmmaking award in the documentary category at California?s Newport Beach Film Festival. It was a finalist at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival held last month in Montana. Elsewhere, DISARM has screened at film festivals in Göteborg (Sweden), New Zealand, Winston-Salem (North Carolina), and Napa Valley (California).
DISARM screens next on May 31, 2006 at the American Film Institute’s Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland. This Washington DC area premiere includes a Q & A session with the filmmakers Mary Wareham and Brian Liu, followed by a light reception. Other upcoming screenings in May and June include the Jackson Hole Film Festival (Wyoming) and the Filmstock International Film Festival (United Kingdom).
DISARM was produced by Next Step Productions and Toolbox DC, and features an original score composed by Brendan Canty (Fugazi), including new music by Steven Drozd (The Flaming Lips), Múm, and Thievery Corporation. DISARM is now available to worldwide television, DVD/video, VOD and IPTV markets exclusively from Janson Media.