Roadside Attractions, the domestic distributor who has released such hot-button issue films as SUPER SIZE ME, PROJECT NIM and THE COVE, enters into the controversy surrounding health care with its pickup of ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE by Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke. The film, which made waves at its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, will be released theatrically in early October, just as the presidential election hits its final stretch. FIRE explores the broken U.S. healthcare system and the Obama administration’s attempts to reform it (as well as the Republicans’ attempt to block that reform). The film not only points to the problems in the current system, but gives voice to professionals who make concrete suggestions on how to improve the system without bankrupting the government, insurance providers or the public at large. The film is expected to be a catalyst for partisan opinion, particularly of the Supreme Court alters any provisions of the health care reform laws that the Obama administration has been able to put in place as its signature first term legislation.
