The critically acclaimed, box office smash Janis: Little Girl Blue is coming to DVD on May 6th via Brooklyn-based film and TV distributor FilmRise. MVD Entertainment Group will distribute the film with exclusive, never-before-seen bonus features.
Directed and written by Academy Award®-nominated documentarian Amy Berg (“Deliver Us From Evil,” “West of Memphis”) and produced by Academy Award®-winner Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Going Clear”), Janis: Little Girl Blue is an intimate portrait of the iconic but troubled rock ‘n’ roll singer Janis Joplin. FilmRise released the film in theaters in Fall 2015 to rave reviews, and it wowed audiences in over 100 cities across the country with electrifying archival footage, exclusive interviews with friends and family, and rare personal letters from the iconic rocker herself. The film features musicians Pink, Kris Kristofferson, Melissa Etheridge, Juliette Lewis, and Bob Weir, TV presenter Dick Cavett, producer Clive Davis, counterculture filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, and more.
The DVD will include bonus features such as an a capella performance from Janis’s first band, Big Brother and the Holding Company; footage from Janis’s posthumous Walk of Fame ceremony; a fascinating look at Janis’s early venues, The Avalon and the Fillmore; and a rare interview with Chan Marshall aka Cat Power, who narrates Janis’s letters in the film.
Janis Joplin is one of the most revered singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who thrilled millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her untimely death in 1970 at age 27. Janis: Little Girl Blue examines her story in-depth for the first time on film, presenting an insightful look at this complicated, driven, often beleaguered artist with rare personal and performance footage and interviews with friends and family. The Joplin family provided unfettered access to their vaults for the first time, through which Berg unearthed previously unreleased letters, photos, audio and footage of Joplin. The singer’s own words tell much of her story through a series of letters she wrote to her parents over the years, never before seen by the public (read by Cat Power). Joplin was a powerhouse when she sang, and her surprising rise and sudden demise changed music forever.
Janis: Little Girl Blue premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival, and screened at the Toronto and London Film Festivals, as well as the prestigious DOC NYC. The film opened in theaters in November 2015.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
“ENTHRALLING!”
-Stephen Holden, New York Times (Critics’ Pick)
“ELECTRIC, INTIMATE AND HEARTBREAKING” ★★★★★
-Owen Gleiberman, BBC
“FIERCELY BRILLIANT!”
-Guy Lodge, Variety
“ELECTRIFYING!”
-Alonso Duralde, The Wrap
“EXHILARATING! [Berg] pays joyous, moving tribute…MIND-BLOWING!”
-Lee Marshall, Screen Daily
