On March 7 2017, 102 Distribution will release on US digital platforms SmoKings, a documentary by Michele Fornasero telling the incredible story of “the Italian brothers who stoke the ire of both Big Tobacco and the Big Apple” (Marton Dunai, The Wall Street Journal). It’s like a gangster movie, a controversial story: there are no good guys, just small bad guys fighting big bad guys. It is a David against Goliath’s story. Who’s going to win this unfair battle?
In 2004, the Messina brothers were sentenced by a NYC court to pay $174 million to Philip Morris for trademark infringement and unfair competition. During the release of SmoKings in Italy, the protagonists were forced to close their newly opened factory and sentenced to jail, under the pressure of tobacco cartels. After a successful festival run, the film has been released in several European territories where it created great controversy. The documentary will be released on iTunes, Google Play and all major VOD platforms on March 7.
The Messina brothers founded Yesmoke, a little tobacco company based in Turin, Italy. Originally Yesmoke was an online store for cheap cigarettes, selling mainly Philip Morris to millions of customers around the world. When sales reached over one hundred million a year, Big Tobacco sued them for 550 Million dollars, obligating them to shut their website down. As a result, the two brothers decided to build their own cigarette manufacturing company in the outskirts of Turin, taking the fight to Philip Morris in an effort to level the playing field. But today, the Italian government and their severe regulations has changed the course of this on-going debate.
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