Silver Spring, MD — Venice Revealed, a new, insightful documentary that explores Europe’s most mysterious and seductive city, debuts on home video on July 13, 2010. Historian and bestselling author Peter Ackroyd (London: The Biography) captures the art and artifice, romance and decay, glorious past and tenuous future of one of the world’s most popular destinations, Venice, Italy, through an in-depth tour of its art, architecture, music, and theatre. The DVD 2-Disc Set ($39.99, www.AcornOnline.com) is being released by Athena, Acorn Media Group’s new home video brand for consumers interested in lifelong learning. Available to U.S. audiences for the first time with its DVD release, the 2009 series is based on Ackroyd’s new book Venice: Pure City, slated for U.S. release in 2010.

Here, the pale Mediterranean light reveals cityscapes as painted by Canaletto and Guardi, modern voices revive the soaring spirituality of Vivaldi’s hymns, and Venetians still don disguises to revel and role-play at Carnival. Exploring private palazzos, magnificent churches, and winding alleyways, Ackroyd also discovers the truth beneath the artifice, where beauty masks terminal decay. He interviews preservationists now working desperately to rescue the city’s treasures from the ravages of time and the sea.

Always a perceptive critic and spellbinding storyteller, Ackroyd serves as the perfect guide for an unforgettable journey.

Venice Revealed originally aired as Peter Ackroyd’s Venice on the BBC in 2009 but has not aired in the U.S.

BONUS FEATURES

• 12-page viewer’s guide with highlights, questions to consider, avenues for further learning, interview with Peter Ackroyd, story of the Great Flood of 1966, gondola facts, and more
• Biographies of Venetian architects, artists, playwrights, and composers
• Venice on film and exclusive web extras

Street: July 13, 2010
SRP: $39.99
DVD 2-Disc Set: 4 episodes - Approx. 164 min. – Documentary – SDH subtitles

Athena releases provide an authoritative and entertaining learning experience through high quality, informative, non-fiction programming. Athena’s releases include Playing Shakespeare, Hitler’s Bodyguard, The Story of Math, Legacy, Testament, The Adventure of English, The Shape of the World, Edge of Existence and Six Centuries of Verse. Clips are available at www.athenalearning.com. Athena’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.