Music Box Films has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray Kirill Mikhanovsky's film Give Me Liberty (2019), starring Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Chris Galust, and Maxim Stoyanov. The release will be available for purchase on January 18.
Label description: A medical transport driver risks his job when he deviates from his day's route to shuttle a group of rowdy senior citizens to a funeral, bringing his clients along for the ride in the rambunctious comedy GIVE ME LIBERTY, directed and co-written by Kirill Mikhanovsky, a Russian-born filmmaker who emigrated to Milwaukee after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Medical transport driver Vic (Chris Galust) is late, but it's not his fault. Roads are closed for a protest, and no one else can shuttle his Russian grandfather (Arkady Basin), émigré friends, and a burly Russian boxer (Maxim Stoyanov) to a funeral. The new route uproots his scheduled clients, particularly Tracy (Lauren "Lolo" Spencer in a breakout performance), a vibrant young woman with ALS. As the day goes from hectic to off-the-rails, their collective ride becomes a hilarious, compassionate, and intersectional portrait of American dreams.
For Give Me Liberty, his second feature film following 2006's Sonhos de Peixe, director/co-screenwriter Mikhanovsky, who graduated from NYU Film School, took inspiration from his own experiences driving a medical transport van back in the '90s as he pursued his own "American Dream."
"The American Dream is a big part of the foundation upon which the house of GIVE ME LIBERTY is built. We did a lot of talking about it, we did a lot of musing on the idea, and I think it is this concern for the idealism, the fading of which we lament in America, that this film was made," says Mikhanovsky. "And I think it came through in a subtle way, that this is part of the palette of America today: we have people from different walks of life, of different colors, of different ages, of different desires, in this small van, shuttling through one of the most segregated places in America, through a turbulent time of an extreme liberal and conservative divide."
"What we have on that shuttle is just a motley crew of humanity! A motley crew of humanity who finds their common denominator," he says.
A critical favorite that has garnered an impressive 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Give Me Liberty was lauded upon its rollout at this year's leading festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Cannes International Film Festival and BAMcinemafest.
Described as a "full blown farce on wheels, a master class in controlled, escalating chaos" by the LOS ANGELES TIMES and as "boisterous and freewheeling" by VARIETY, GIVE ME LIBERTY is one helluva joyride…hop on!
Special Features:
Q&A with filmmakers and cast from the NY Film Premiere at BAMcinemaFest
Scenes from the Milwaukee Film Premiere
Featurette: Sitting Pretty with Lolo Spencer: Why Representation Matters
16mm performances by Theater Freylekhs Russian Choir