VIA PRESS RELEASE | Following its world premiere sellout at Raindance and successful UK theatrical run with Vue Cinemas, feature documentary RISE: The Story of Augustines will be independently released worldwide on Friday, August 2, 2019 via iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Vimeo On Demand.
In August of 2009, songwriter William McCarthy’s younger brother James, in the midst of a lengthy incarceration on charges of attempted murder, was found dead of an apparent suicide inside Napa State Hospital. Just one week later, McCarthy’s band Pela imploded, leaving both him and bandmate Eric Sanderson devastated, in financial ruin, and with a half-finished album that almost never saw the light of day. RISE: The Story of Augustines chronicles the journey of two men who faced their demons, refused to fall and established a lifelong brotherhood as they struggled to finish their seminal debut record, all while trying to maintain their own sanity and pay tribute to James. McCarthy’s songwriting during the toughest year of his life would come to be known as his defining work.
The album Rise Ye Sunken Ships stands as a testament both to the pain of loss and the celebration of life. The two resurfaced with a new name, Augustines, and together with drummer Robert Allen, who shepherded McCarthy and Sanderson through their darkest of times, rose up to become one of the most celebrated independent bands in the world. This is a truly compelling story of struggle, perseverance, brotherhood and hope.
“We’ve already been able to do things a lot of independents haven’t with RISE, such as a theatrical release with the biggest cinema chain in the UK,” director Todd Howe said on his decision to release the film independently. “They believed in our film, we cut our own deals directly and it paid off.” He adds, “I forged a successful career as a musician doing everything independently, so when I see people like Jim Cummings (Thunder Road) and Gary Hustwit (Rams, Helvetica) paving a more direct path for their own independent films, I have enormous respect for that.”
Commenting on the film’s release, Augustines’ Eric Sanderson said, “There are times when a project is bigger than yourself, where you have to trust others, let go, and believe in the art. Todd’s ability to tell this story with such compassion and clarity shows exactly why we trusted him and why we opened our lives to him. I am so incredibly touched by what Todd has created. The making of this film is a story in itself. He had to overcome incredible difficulties and personal loss to complete this film; challenges that mirror the making of RISE in many ways.”
