Managing Director Ewa Bigio has announced that Smiley Film Sales has been appointed by the National Museum of Civil Rights in Memphis to represent for worldwide sales, "The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306" (www.witnessroom306.com). The film has received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject at the upcoming Oscars on the 22nd of February. This is the third year in a row that that the New Zealand film sales agency has acquired the rights to the exclusive representation of Academy Award® nominated films including “Freeheld” in 2008 and “The Blood of Yingzhou District” in 2007, which it has licensed to over 30 territories worldwide. Both films subsequently went on to win Oscars in the Best Documentary Short Subject category. Ms Bigio, one of the directors of the upcoming DOCNZ International Film Festival taking place this February, says she is honoured that the agency has been chosen to represent the prestigious National Museum of Civil Rights. Unique interest in the film has been generated by its timing with the election of America's first African American President - an event which has revived global interest in the American civil rights movement. The Museum was established in 1991 within the historic Lorraine Motel where Dr King was assassinated. The film will air in the US on HBO on the 18th of February. The film will be available for viewing at MIPDOC this March in Cannes between the 28th - 29th.