PalmPictures has acquired North American, UK and Caribbean rights to KevinFitzgerald's documentary Freestyle: The Art Of Rhyme.

Palm'shead of acquisitions and production David Koh negotiated the deal withFitzgerald (aka DJ Organic) and producer Henry Alex Rubin, who were representedby attorney Joseph Tedeschi.

Thedistributor plans a theatrical release in New York this weekend at CinemaVillage and in Los Angeles later this month, followed by a nationwide expansionand finally DVD release in 2005.

Freestyle documents the world of improvisational rap andfeatures rare footage and appearances by such artists as Supernatural, Mos Def,The Roots, J-5, Wordsworth, and The Last Poets.

Fitzgeraldtook more than seven years to film and has won awards at the Urbanworld FilmFestival, the Florida Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival and Los AngelesIndependent Film Festival, among others.

"Wewanted to make a film that acknowledged that hip-hop is a true art form as wellas a cultural and spiritual movement," Fitzgerald said in a statement.

"Having Palm come on boardas a partner to release this documentary brings things to a full circle, asChris Blackwell was one of the first people who believed in and signedFreestyle Fellowship to their first record deal."