Enlightenment Productions’ romantic comedy www.enlightenmentproductions.com/index.php?page=films_icts” I Can’t Think Straight’ and moving drama www.enlightenment-productions.com/index.php?page=films_twu ‘The World Unseen’ have scooped more than 30 international awards and have been a hit with audiences worldwide. But the movies are part of a library that has been seized by Bank of America following a lawsuit against Enlightenment’s North American distributor Regent Releasing. ‘Unfortunately, since the movies were taken on by Regent, we haven’t seen a single statement or a single penny in royalties,’ explained producer Hanan Kattan, whose life partner Shamim Sarif wrote and directed both films, based on her own novels. Now news articles including this one in HYPERLINK “www.queerty.com/shock-advocate-owner-regent-media-accused-of-scamming-big-banks-out-of-90-million-20110202/” Queerty have brought to light allegations of fraud made by the banks who invested in Regent. Those banks have taken over Regent’s library of mainly gay-related movies, including I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen, which were two of the best-known lesbian hits of the past couple of years. Working within their own independent company, Enlightenment Productions, Shamim and Hanan raised the finance, wrote, produced, directed and sold both movies. ‘It is incredibly disappointing that these movies that have captured audience’s imaginations got short-changed by their own distributor,’ said Sarif. ‘These allegations suggest not only bad practice against their own investors, but also against those women — from investors to our lead actors – who put their time and effort into supporting us.’ Now Enlightenment are offering viewers the movies from their own site, with their own updated artwork and packed with extras, as well as a DVD pack that includes both films and the soundtrack from ‘I Can’t Think Straight’. For those who prefer their films on their laptops or iPhones, the digital downloads from HYPERLINK “www.enlightenment-productions.com” www.enlightenment-productions.com cost just £2.99 (around $5) each. The response has been encouraging: ‘People are loving the crisp, high quality picture and sound, and we’ve also added a 20 minute bonus ‘making of’ with each download,’ explains producer Hanan Kattan. Actress Lisa Ray, who has been fighting a well-documented battle with cancer, asked people to support the legal movies in a statement on her ‘ HYPERLINK “lisaraniray.wordpress.com/” Yellow Diaries’ blog: ‘Working with Shamim and Hanan has been deeply inspiring and I would like to work with them again and again. I would like to continue to make my living as a actor committed to working on projects which illuminate and provoke. This can only happen if you express your support by buying the films.’

Downloads available from: HYPERLINK “www.enlightenment-productions.com/howtoget.php?page=films_dgd” www.enlightenment-productions.com/howtoget.php?page=films_dgd For more on Enlightenment Productions please visit: HYPERLINK “www.enlightenment-productions.com” www.enlightenment-productions.com SYNOPSIS ‘I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT’

Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. As Tala’s wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.

SYNOPSIS ‘THE WORLD UNSEEN’ Free-spirited Amina has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian community, and the new apartheid-led government, by running a café with Jacob her ‘coloured’ business partner. When she meets Miriam, a young traditional wife and mother, their unexpected attraction pushes Miriam to question the rules that bind her. When Amina helps Miriam’s sister-in-law to hide from the police, a chain of events is set in motion that changes both women forever. In a system that divides white from black and women from men, what chance is there for an unexpected love to survive?

For further information please contact: sales@enlightenment-productions.com