Dykeman of Lake County Fest launches Cinema Obscura DVD label in time for March 9-12 fest

Lake County Film Festival founder Nat Dykeman launches the new DVD label “Cinema Obscura” in time for the March 9-12 festival.

They are Ruth Leitman’s “Alma,” John Covert’s “Waiting for the Man,” Joe Pacheco’s “As Smart as They Are: The Author Project.”

Dykeman directly distributes the titles online and sells them to retailers through an imprint deal with New York-based Ryko Distribution with a target street date of May 29.

“We hope to move beyond distribution to licensing as well, working on TV licensing, digital downloads and foreign sales,” Dykeman said.

Leitman’s 1998 documentary “Alma” is about the troubled relationship between Atlanta country singer Margie Thorpe and her titular mother.

Leitman (“Lipstick & Dynamite”) described Alma as “a southern gothic documentary film in the story-telling tradition of Tennessee Williams and Flannery O’Connor?an unflinching examination of family secrets, love and abuse.”

Pacheco’s “As Smart As They Are: The Author Project” follows New York duo One Ring Zero, the “house band” for hipster publishing house McSweeney’s, as they assemble an album of songs with lyrics by literary darlings including Dave Eggers, Jonathan Letham, Rick Moody, and novelist/filmmaker Paul Auster.