LOS ANGELES — Joe Berlinger’s documentary Intent to Destroy, a film-within-a film that centers on the Armenian Genocide was a critical favorite at last year’s Tribeca and Hot Docs film festivals. The film also won best documentary at the Arpa International Film Festival held last November. Intent to Destroy was shown theatrically with limited screenings in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco.  Gathr Films is expanding the release with one-night-only event screenings through its crowd-sourced theatrical distribution platform Theatrical On Demand.

Produced by Survival Pictures (The Promise), RadicalMedia, and Third Eye Motion Picture Company in association with Bloom Project, Berlinger’s 13th feature-length documentary embeds history with the story of director Terry George’s exploration of the Genocide through his film The Promise. That includes the subsequent campaign launched by genocide deniers.

The film shines a light on the Armenian Genocide — whose witnesses and descendants are still fighting to be officially acknowledged as such by the international community including the United States: how it was carried out during World War I as the reign of the Ottoman Empire drew to a close, and how it laid the groundwork for the genocides that followed. Berlinger interviews historians, scholars, and high-profile filmmakers in his exploration of the tangled web of responsibility that has driven a century of denial by the Turkish government and its strategic allies.

Berlinger has won two Emmys and has been nominated in the feature doc category for an Oscar. His work includes Brother’s Keeper, the Paradise Lost trilogy, and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.

Theatrical On Demand® allows individuals the opportunity to organize and promote screenings of Intent to Destroy in movie theaters across the country. With Theatrical On Demand®, you can bring this film to your local movie theater. You just pick the date, time, and theater where you want to host your screening. Gathr Films will set everything up for you at no cost. All you have to do is promote the film and get people to reserve tickets.

Theatrical On Demand® screenings can only happen if a minimum number of people reserve tickets before a screening expires. Movie Captains, who organize these screenings, have anywhere from 5 weeks to 4-months to promote the film in their city and get enough people to reserve tickets before the screening expires.

On every screening page, you’ll find an update that shows you the number of current reservations, the number of additional reservations needed to tip the screening, as well as how much time remains before that screening request expires. When enough people reserve tickets to a screening before time expires, the screening takes place. If the minimum number of reservations is not met, the screening does not take place and nobody is charged.

Anyone can Captain a movie screening, whether you’re an individual, an organization, or social club. Nonprofits can also add a feature that allows ticket purchasers to make an optional donation to their organization.

You can help bring Intent to Destroy to a theater near you by hosting your own screening and spreading the word. Intent to Destroy is an experience, and the full meaning and value of this film can only be experienced in a high-quality cinema with a big screen, great sound, and large audience. This film is dedicated to the estimated 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, and to all victims of mass slaughter around the world. May their suffering never be forgotten.

Organize a screening now or by emailing Haig Boyadjian at haigboyadjian@yahoo.com