WHITE WASH Coming to DVD and VOD

New York City (July 20, 2011) - Audiences are about to ride some uncharted waves with the world premiere of White Wash, featuring 10 time ASP World Champion Surfer Kelly Slater, Triple Crown of Surfing winner Rob Machado, Legendary Pro Surfer Buttons Kaluhiokalani, and more. Narrated by Grammy winner Ben Harper, in conjunction with Black Thought of the Grammy Award winning group, The Roots, the documentary explores the history of surfing culture and breaks all 'surfer dude' stereotypes by uncovering the succession of African-Americans riding the waves. While paying respect to the ocean, filmmaker Ted Woods and producers Airrion Copeland and Dan Munger illustrate a comprehensive study from the perspective of black surfers from Hawaii, Jamaica, Florida, and California, blending archival footage and conversations with professors, historians, authors, organizations and professional surfers. Beginning October 4th, White Wash, the film which made theGrio.com shout, "You've got to see this film," will be available nationwide on DVD and all forms of VOD by Virgil Films & Entertainment.

Although surfing originated in Hawaii as part of Polynesian culture, Americans adopted a blonde-haired, blue-eyed male surfer cliche that still dominates the sport today. White Wash breaks all manifested barriers and explores the role of black surfers by introducing audiences to the likes of: Michael Green, Founder of Brooklyn Surfing; Rick Blocker, Black Surf Historian & Founder of BlackSurfing.com; Sal Masekela, TV Host, Sports Commentator, Actor & Singer; and Dr. Charles Ross, Author of "Outside The Lines," just to name a few. Featured guests recount their personal journey, while discussing surf history, its origin, and its evolution, all the while preserving the love of catching that giant wave.

Presenting facts such as less than 2% of swimmers registered with USA swimming (of competitive swimming associations) are black - compared to 69% of the National Football League; and nearly 60% of black children can't swim - compared to 30% of white children, Woods takes viewers on an eye-opening crusade for the need of a black surfing association to help establish their place in the water and in surfing competitions.

Others featured in the film include: Billy "Mystic" Wilmot, Jamaican Surf Team; Sam George, Surf Historian & Filmmaker (Riding Giants); James Meredith, Integrated the University of Mississippi; Bruce Wigo, President, International Swimming Hall of Fame; Patrick "Quashi" Mitchell, Founder of Quashi Surfboards International; Lee Pitts, Swim Historian & Instructor; Dr. John Oberman, Author, "Darwin's Athletes"; Dr. Doug Flamming, Author of "Bound for Freedom"; Alison Jefferson, Santa Monica Historian; Audwin Anderson, Sports Sociologist, Texas State University; Dr. Mark Chapman, Chair, African American Studies, Fordham University and more.

SYNOPSIS
White Wash, the documentary, is a film exploring the complexity of race in America through the eyes of the ocean. Examining the history of 'black consciousness' as it triumphs and evolves into the minds of black surfers, we learn the power of transcending race as a constructive phenomenon. The story is narrated by the legendary Grammy Award winner Ben Harper ("Fistful of Mercy," "Relentless 7," "Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals") along with Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter of the Grammy Award winning hip-hop group, The Roots, whom also originally scored the film.

VIRGIL FILMS & ENTERTAINMENT
Virgil Films & Entertainment, formerly Arts Alliance America, was founded in 2003 as Hart Sharp Video by Joe Amodei to develop, acquire, market and distribute DVD product in the theatrical feature film, documentaries, special interest and sports categories. The company has built partnerships with Sundance Channel Home Entertainment, National Geographic Cinema Ventures, ESPN, MLB Productions, Bombo Sports and Entertainment, Morgan Spurlock's Warrior Poets and other high-profile entertainment brands since their inception. Recent releases from Virgil Films & Entertainment include: Mad Ron's Prevues From Hell; Seven Days starring Yun-jin Kim (ABC's "Lost"), Shoot The Hero! starring Jason Mewes, Nick Turturro and Danny Trejo; The Brazen Bull starring Michael Madsen and Rachel Hunter; Michael Imperioli's directorial debut The Hungry Ghosts; National Geographic's Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo; and the groundbreaking documentary, Forks Over Knives. For more information, please visit: www.VirgilFilmsEnt.com

WHITE WASH
Virgil Films & Entertainment
Street Date: October 4, 2011
Pre-book Date: August 30, 2011
DVD SRP: $19.99
Run Time: 75 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Format: DVD
Rating: Not Rated