Sweeter Than Saccharine: Documentary That Challenges Aspartame Industry Finds A Sweet Deal

The documentary film "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World," a cult hit amongst anti-aspartame advocates, will receive distribution through Cinema Libre Studio.

LOS ANGELES -- The documentary film "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World", a cult hit amongst anti-aspartame advocates, will receive distribution through Cinema Libre Studio. The documentary challenges industry-led claims of aspartame's safety. Cinema Libre Studio, known for producing and distributing films that challenge the status quo, has penned a deal with Sound and Fury Productions, for home entertainment rights. Title will street December 6th.

"Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World" follows filmmaker Cori Brackett on her journey to uncover the truth about aspartame after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis following a period of heavy consumption of diet soda. As she began to research her own health issues, she came across a morass of "facts" and "myths" surrounding the controversial food-additive. Determined to find the truth, Brackett crisscrossed the United States interviewing doctors, medical professionals, lawyers, researchers and anti-aspartame activists. The results are profoundly disturbing.

"Sweet Misery" unveils one of the most pervasive, insidious forms of corporate negligence in the history of the industrial revolution: the "revolving doors" practices between the FDA and powerful corporations such as Monsanto-subsidiary, Searle. Upon detailed examination of the process for approving aspartame by the FDA, the film connects Donald Rumsfeld, currently United States Secretary of Defense, to the scene of the crime. Rumsfeld, then CEO of Searle, was part of Reagan's transition team when the FDA's board of inquiry was overruled by Arthur Hull Hayes, the newly appointed FDA Commissioner, thereby allowing the marketing of aspartame as a food additive.

"'Sweet Misery' has the right mix of political intrigue and corporate deception," says Brackett. "It is yet another example of multi-national corporations disregard for the individual."

Cinema Libre Studio, the independent distribution company known for distributing films such as "WMD:Weapons of Mass Deception," "McLibel," "Uncovered: The War On Iraq," and "The Future of Food," has helped to foster and grow the audience for hard-hitting documentaries and feature films that reveal what's really happening behind the curtain of corporate controlled media and Hollywood happy-endings.

"We're proud to belong to such an important catalog of films," states Brackett, who is a co-owner of Sound and Fury Productions, Inc., a Tucson-based video and film production company. "Sweet Misery" will be reintroduced as an improved version with a re-mixed soundtrack, new footage and educational tools for the December 6th street date with an SRP of $24.95.

HOME ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS:

Screeners of "Sweet Misery" are available upon request - please call Mary Keeler at 818-349-8822. For more information regarding Cinema Libre Studios fall home entertainment release schedule, which includes "McLibel," "Drowned Out," "Embedded Live!," "Voices In Wartime," and "The Peace! DVD," please contact Arik Ben Treston, VP of Home Entertainment at 818-349-8822.

About Cinema Libre Studio

Cinema Libre Studio is a haven for independent filmmakers with views, offering one-stop shopping for production, co-production, distribution, marketing, and post-production services. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company has representatives in Paris, London, Munich, Rome, Madrid and Tokyo. The company is best known for distributing the films "Outfoxed," "Uncovered," "Unconstitutional," "Unprecedented" and David O. Russell's "Soldiers Pay." For more information visit www.cinemalibrestudio.com.

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