Damon Russell’s controversial debut feature Snow on tha Bluff, which has won several awards on the underground film festival circuit, has been acquired by Screen Media Films, as part of a larger strategy by the distribution company to “focus on quality niche films including festival darlings, documentaries, foreign, urban and Latino.”

The film will be released on DVD and via online outlets like iTunes, but it will also receive a limited theatrical release, something that’s almost unheard of for underground films these days.

In Snow on the Bluff, a small-time drug dealer and thief, Curtis Snow, steals a video camera from a bunch of college kids during a dope deal and proceeds to make a documentary about his life. Questions swirl around the film about how much of its graphic footage is staged or authentic.

After debuting at the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival, Snow on the Bluff went on to win the Best Narrative Award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival and the Best Feature Award at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival. Director Russell also went on to be named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

Screen Media Films will release Snow on tha Bluff this summer.

Watch the trailer for Snow on tha Bluff: