Recently launched distributor Abacus Media Rights (AMR), a member of the Amcomri Media Group, has acquired international distribution rights for The Dakota Entrapment Tapes, a Fine Point Films production, which has its world premiere at Hot Docs Festival 2020, available to stream online from 28th May until June 24th.
The Dakota Entrapment Tapes (1 x 90’) is written, directed and produced by award-winning director/producer Trevor Birney (The Go-Go’s, No Stone Unturned, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Thatcher and the IRA) and founder of Fine Point Films. Produced in Northern Ireland, with the support of Northern Ireland Screen, the film is co-produced by Mairéad Kelly and executive produced by Brendan Byrne (66 Days and One Million American Dreams) and Michael Fanning (Rocky Ros Muc).
A 20-year-old North Dakota college student Andrew Sadek mysteriously disappears in May 2014 and is found dead almost two months later. What Andrew’s friends and family didn’t know was that in the months before his death, he had been coerced into becoming an informant for an aggressive police task force that had been secretly operating for years. As details of Andrew’s double life are revealed, the cover of the shadowy program is blown, laying bare the collusion and abuse of power by local law enforcement at all levels. Following the Sadek family’s fight for the truth about how their son died, the film skilfully uncovers the forces at play in his death and, with the use of never seen before recordings, reveals why law enforcement secretly waged a war on students, on a college campus that didn’t have a drug problem.
Jonathan Ford, Managing Director, AMR, comments, “We are thrilled to add The Dakota Entrapment Tapes to the Abacus programming line-up. It’s a captivating film from the award-winning team at Fine Point Films, which we are confident will have wide international appeal following its world premiere at Hot Docs.”
Trevor Birney, Director, Fine Point Films, says “Andrew was a talented and proud son of North Dakota with his life ahead of him until he was targeted by law enforcement officers running a secret program that would ultimately cost him his life. We’re very humbled that John and Tammy Sadek entrusted us with Andrew’s story."
About ABACUS MEDIA RIGHTS
Abacus Media Rights (AMR) acquires and distributes high-quality, multi-genre programming for the global market alongside working with producers to facilitate pre-sales and set up programming with financing to successfully receive commissions. Embracing a fully transparent reporting ethos, the company focuses on building strong client relationships to generate positive solutions for producers and acquisitions teams from which to deliver diverse scripted and non-scripted entertainment that counts.
About FINE POINT FILMS
Fine Point Films is helmed by award-winning producer/director and journalist Trevor Birney and specialises in producing high-end documentaries for international distribution. In January 2020, Fine Point Films premiered their latest documentary, The Go-Go’s, about the iconic all-female band, directed by Alison Ellwood, at Sundance Film Festival. This follows the success of their 2019 Sundance premiere of Gaza, directed by Garry Keane & Andrew McConnell. In 2019 Fine Point Films also released; Behind the Blood, which premiered at IDFA, and Bojayá: Caught in the Crossfire and Killing Patient Zero, which both premiered at Hot Docs. Fine Point’s extensive production slate also includes; Emmy nominated No Stone Unturned directed by Academy Award-winning Alex Gibney, Emmy nominated Elián directed by Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden for CNN Films, Bobby Sands: 66 Days directed by Brendan J. Byrne which broke Irish box office records, Netflix Originals Mercury 13 directed by Heather Walsh and David Sington, George Best: All By Himself directed by Daniel Gordon for ESPN and BBC, One Million American Dreams and Hear My Voice directed by Brendan J. Byrne and HBO’s Emmy-winning Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God directed by Alex Gibney, Wave Goodbye To Dinosaurs directed by Eimhear O’Neill in collaboration with Fork Films for the PBS series Women, War and Peace and An Engineer Imagines, directed by BAFTA winning Marcus Robinson. Further details at www.finepointfilms.com.
