Hometown Media Productions (HMP) announced today that it will be releasing the film festival hit Breaking Balls for an exclusive one week run at Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Mall theater beginning with a premiere on Friday, January 12^th at 7:30pm and running twice daily through January 18^th. 

Breaking Balls, produced by HMP affiliate Pallino Productions LLC, and directed by Cleveland State film instructor and USC film school alum John P. Vourlis, is a 75-minute feature length documentary that follows three colorful figures involved in the game of bocce as viewed through the lens of the 30^th Anniversary Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce tournament. The Challenge Cup is one of the largest bocce events in North America, and is held every year at the Wickliffe Italian-American Club in Wickliffe, Ohio, the last weekend of August.

The film was a huge hit at the 2017 Cleveland International Film Festival, where it sold out 3 screens in one night (the first film to do so since another great Cleveland sports documentary, Believeland). Breaking Balls also played to a sold-out audience at the 2017 Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, voted one of the top up-and-coming festivals to attend by MovieMaker magazine. You can view the trailer on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/204768394

Director John P. Vourlis and several of the stars of the documentary will be in attendance for the premiere on January 12^th. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.atlascinemas.net/gl16.aspx. 

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Breaking Balls showing on the big screen one more time, especially here in Cleveland!” said Vourlis.

Chris Baxter, Director of Operations at Atlas Cinemas, said, “Atlas Cinemas is committed to serving the local community. We are proud to feature this amazing documentary made locally by the talented filmmaker John Vourlis. Through the theatrical screening folks will get a real inside look at the competitive world of Bocce, told by the people that live it in our community.”

Breaking Balls is being distributed nationally on DVD through Amazon by CPI Distributors and will be available worldwide to buy or download digitally on iTunes, GooglePlay and other digital platforms beginning in early January. Stay tuned for more info!