Oscar Contender ‘The Disappearance Of Shere Hite’ To Hit Cinemas In U.K., Ireland In January

deadline.com:

Oscar-contending documentary The Disappearance of Shere Hite will be making an appearance in cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland within weeks, courtesy of Dogwoof.

The London-based documentary film company has announced a January 12 launch date in those territories for Nicole Newnham’s film about the famed American sex researcher who rocketed to fame in the 1970s but then faced a tremendous backlash that essentially drove her into exile. “The Disappearance of Shere Hite remembers the feminist sex researcher, Shere Hite, whose findings rocked the establishment, presaged current conversations about gender and sexuality, and made her a target of the patriarchy,” notes a release from Dogwoof. “1976’s The Hite Report aimed to liberate women and demystify female pleasure and the orgasm by revealing private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents… Digging into exclusive archives, as well as Hite’s personal journals and the original survey responses, filmmaker Nicole Newnham… transports viewers back to a time of great societal transformation around sexuality.” Actress Dakota Johnson narrates writings of Hite in the film and serves as an executive producer of The Disappearance of Shere Hite.

The documentary enjoys a “100% Fresh” critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “I was 12 years old when I discovered The Hite Report in my mother’s nightstand drawer, sneaking it to read for myself, to learn about the world of female sexuality, a world that remained cloaked in shame and mystery for me as for so many others,” Newnham said in a statement. “The women who answered Shere’s survey were eye-opening to me in their diversity – across age, race, ability, sexual identity and experiences – and in their commonality.