Entertainment

Santa Monica, CA--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)--November 18, 2005--Xenon Pictures announced today the release of "Thérèse" the story of Thérèse Martin, who later became known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux- the “Little Flower”, which will be available on DVD February 14, 2006 and feature Spanish subtitles. The movie was produced by Luke Films, a Catholic media company based in Portland, Oregon, specializing in spiritual films for the modern audience.

Thérèse is the first-ever feature length film to receive an official Vatican endorsement before its theatrical release. Critics have called the film “sensitive and humorous” “a lesson in inspiration” “a beautiful two hour retreat from the world” and “a tremendous cinematic achievement.”

During its record breaking 2004 theatrical run, Thérèse ranked #2 in per screen average, compared to other major studio-driven films such as “Shark Tale”, “Ray” and “Taxi” and continued to break records well into its fifth week, outperforming “I Heart Huckabees” and “Ladder 49.”

Thérèse follows the life of Saint Thérèse Martin from early childhood until her death in 1897 from tuberculosis. Denied admittance to a Carmelite convent at the age of 15, Thérèse pleads her case to Pope Leo XIII himself and later is allowed to take her vows. After initially struggling to adjust to convent life, Thérèse grows to see her situation in a different light which leads to the authorship of her own spiritual manual “Story of A Soul” explaining her religious philosophy. This autobiography, emphasizing the ‘Little Way” of undertaking daily tasks with no expectation of personal gain, has been translated into 60 languages and has sold over 100 million copies. After her death, the numerous miracles attributed to her intercession resulted in Therese being canonized in 1925.

St. Therese is considered the most popular saint of modern times. After the overwhelming response to the 1997 debut of director Leonardo Defillppis’ one woman play on St. Therese of Lisieux, millions of her followers around the world clamored for a feature film on her life and Defillppis happily obliged.

The film’s soundtrack, which was composed entirely by a cloistered Carmelite nun, features the talents of many notable Pacific Northwest musicians under the direction of conductor Vilem Sokol of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack album will be released by Xenon Records, also distributed through Universal Music Group.

Xenon Pictures is offering Therese on DVD at the price of $24.99. Run Time: 96 Minutes. Genre: Period Drama. 2004.

Xenon Pictures recently released on DVD of the popular telenovela “El Privilegio de Amar”, starring Adela Noriega (Amor Real) , as well as a special holiday DVD, “Navidad con el Chavo”, starring Latin America’s most beloved character El Chavo del 8 del 8. Future plans includes the release on DVD of the telenovelas “La Madrastra”, which will include English subtitles and special bonus materials in 2006.

Xenon Pictures, Inc., established in 1986 and based in Santa Monica California, is the leading distributor of Urban, Spanish language, and specialty programming in the United States.

ON THE WEB: http://www.xenonpictures.com

LUKE FILMS, INC: Launched in 2000, Luke Films, Inc. is the Media Acquisition, Production and Distribution division of Saint Luke Productions. Luke Films is recognized in the studios/mainstream industry as the premiere spiritual media company specializing in faith-based Catholic films and videos.

ON THE WEB: http://www.theresemovie.com

Universal Music & Video Distribution / Visual Entertainment is a unit of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company.

ON THE WEB: http://www.UMVD.com