Rakontur goes national - again

Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja, a documentary study of the marijuana trade in 1970s Florida by Miami filmmakers Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman, will be distributed theatrically in 40 cities across the U.S. after its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March.

Magnolia Films, which previously distributed the duo’s beloved cult favorite Cocaine Cowboys, will also handle international distribution rights for the new film.

Square Grouper is one of five films that Rakontur, Corben and Spellman’s production company, is releasing this year. Also in the pipeline: Limelight, about New York City nightclub impresario Peter Gatien; Dawg Fight, about the phenomenon of backyard fight clubs; Cocaine Cowboys: Remixed, an all-new version of the documentary about the South Florida cocaine wars of the 1980s; and a still-unnamed documentary for ESPN exploring the explosion of salaries in professional sports.

 “We’ve entered a deal with Magnolia to handle our work on a regular basis,” said Spellman, co-founder of Rakontur. “We’ve worked very closely with them. With the changing media landscape, some of our stuff is going theatrical and some is going to TV. When we’re looking at theatrical distribution, Magnolia is the company we want to work with.”

For more information on Rakontur’s upcoming projects, visit the company’s website at www.rakontur.com

This story was originally published February 8, 2011 at 4:02 AM.