Los Angeles, CA, April 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Activist filmmaker Ginger Gentile’s groundbreaking documentary Erasing Family premiered in the middle of a sold-out screening tour just as the Coronavirus pandemic began in the U.S. Based on the immense success of its tour, Gentile will be premiering the film online on Saturday, April 25th to coincide with Parental Alienation Awareness Day.
“We were in the middle of a sold-out community screening tour with over 25 cities when the Coronavirus pandemic shut us all inside. Many are isolated from loved ones, missing holidays and not being able to visit in a hospital, a reality too familiar to families erased by the divorce courts,” said Gentile director of Erasing Family.
"Erasing Family the film documentary is even more essential in this dangerous and life-changing COVID-19 pandemic. The potential for alienating children from the non-custodial parent has increased tenfold. It is certainly time for our society and yes, parents, to come together for proper co-parenting to increase the mental wellness of our children," added Dr. Jeff Gardere, author and expert better known as “America's Psychologist”.
“The film has one of the largest organic audiences, as half of all families go through divorce and over 25 million parents in North America report being erased from their children," said Gentile. Similar subject matter propelled the 2019 movie A Marriage Story to an Oscar-nomination, but Erasing Family features real people with their actual, very personal and at times gut-wrenching stories.
The film follows young adults fighting to reunite with their broken families. It took years for the filmmakers to find young adults willing to go on camera to tell their stories as many did not want to talk about being brainwashed to hate a parent after a divorce, due to shame. Family courts are often overwhelmed with cases, and few protocols exist to help these families, forcing them to fight for custody instead of helping them to be co-parents. Yet there is a happy ending as these broken families are being reunited on screen, which will inspire other children to reach out to their own erased parents. It also highlights how showing the reforms to make separation of the parents healthier is urgently needed.
"Joint Custody is still not the norm, and many bar associations oppose making it the default option as there is a lot of money to be made in custody battles," said Gentile. "Right now, only one state, Kentucky, has such a law passed in 2018."
Ginger rose to prominence in Argentina with her activism and previous feature directing credits Erasing Dad (Borrando a Papá) and Goals for Girls (Mujeres con Pelotas). For her work in reuniting families, Gentile was named an Architect of Change by Maria Shriver.
The film has over 26,000 followers on its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ErasingFamily) as “erased” parents see this film as their last hope to communicate with their children. More than 300 backers raised over $450,000.00 in crowd-funding to finance the film, and their heartfelt messages to their estranged children are seen in the end credits.
A special phone number for those who might need emotional support after watching the film has been set up. The number to text between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm (EST) is (865) 4-FAMILY (865-432-6459).
“Erasing Family brought me to tears as Ginger Gentile's brilliant production looks through the eyes, hearts, and words of children as their childhood is erased, as one of their parents is erased. This film wisely refrains from taking sides but leaves us with the indelible impression that if we don't wish to leave a child behind, we need to not leave a parent behind,” quoted Dr. Warren Farrell, co-author (with John Gray) of The Boy Crisis.
Gentile met President & Co-Owner of Glass House Distribution, Tom Malloy, through a Father’s rights group on Facebook. After screening the film, Glass House immediately made a deal to sell the film worldwide.
“A film like this is so important because it doesn’t favor one side or the other but focuses on the damage inflicted on children from misguided egos of parents and calls for social change. We knew we had to do our best to get this film out into the world,” says Malloy.
Erasing Family starts its Exclusive Screenings through Vimeo on Demand on April 25th, 2020 with a Q&A with Director Ginger Gentile at 8 pm EST on www.facebook.com/erasingfamily. Tickets are available at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/erasingfamily. The film will be released to VOD platforms everywhere, including Amazon, Tubi, and YouTube this upcoming summer.
More information including resources to help families can be found at www.erasingfamily.org. Follow Erasing Family on social media on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @ErasingFamily.
For media inquiries, interviews and appearance requests, please contact Kelly Bennett of Bennett Unlimited PR (949) 463-6383 or kelly@bpunlimited.com.
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