FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2006
Making a Difference, One Film At a Time
Cinema Libre Studio’s Founder Questions African Civil War, Global Poverty and America’s Sexual Boundaries
LOS ANGELES – Philippe Diaz, an award-winning producer/director (“Mauvais Sang” “Pierre et Djemila”), has built a reputation as a provocative filmmaker with a cinephile’s heart. His shocking documentary, “The Empire In Africa,” is fast-becoming an international festival favorite and will screen in Los Angeles during the Hollywood Film Festival on Sunday, October 22nd at 5:00pm.
“The Empire in Africa,” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival. Filmed during the last month of the civil war, which lasted eleven years and resulted in an estimated 60,000 deaths and the displacement of more that 2 million people, the doc boldly criticizes the role of western powers in the exploitation of African countries, as typified in Sierra Leone. The shocking imagery includes footage of an execution by peace-keeping forces, which was smuggled to the director by a former cameraman from a local news station in FreeTown. This film has been invited to more than 25 festivals around the world including the Cannes Film Festival (Critics Week), Edinburgh, Leeds, and Milan. It won the “Grand Prize” at the Montreal’s African Film Festival and the “Award for the Most Powerful Film” at the One World Film Festival, Prague Czechoslovakia.
The documentary is featured as part of the "Focus on Africa" series during the Hollywood Film Festival. Other films include:
"I Soldatens Fodspor" ("In a Soldier's Footsteps") - A documentary about a former Ugandan soldier child who becomes a refugee in Denmark
Phillip Noyce's "To Catch A Fire" - A drama about terrorism in Apartheid-era South Africa, revolving around a policeman (Tim Robbins) and a young man (Derek Luke) who carries out solo acts against the regime
"Uganda Uprising" - Documentary chronicles the 20-year civil war raging in Northern Uganda between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army.
“I had always thought that a camera was a powerful weapon in the hands of a director,” says Diaz. “In creating the studio, we’ve championed projects that demonstrate how movies can make a difference. Our current productions embody this and will challenge cultural, political and social arenas.”
In his native Paris, Diaz produced critically acclaimed films that included: "Mauvais Sang" (Winner of 1986 Louis Delluc award, nominated for 3 Césars which launched the careers of Juliette Binoche and Julie Delpy), "Pierre Et Djemila" (represented France in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival), "The Bengali Night" (which launched the career of director Nicholas Klotz and featured Hugh Grant in his first leading role). Returning to his political, independent roots in 2003, he founded Cinema Libre Studio in Los Angeles.
Diaz’s follow up includes a recently completed feature film that challenges the boundaries of sex in American cinema and a feature documentary on the root causes of poverty.
The narrative feature film, “Now & Later,” which will be submitted to major international film festivals in the fall, explores American cinema’s awkward boundaries with real sex on film, and more generally the role of sex in American culture. Directed by Diaz, the film tells the story of Angela, an illegal Latina immigrant in LA, who teaches Bill, a disgraced banker, how to embrace life again. Through passionate sex, soul-searching conversations ranging from politics to philosophy, and other worldly pleasures, the affair will ultimately change Bill's life.
Production begins later this month on “Progress vs. Poverty,” a feature documentary that will examine the root causes of poverty. Through interviews with global experts, spokespeople for the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the World Bank and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) on the ground in Kenya, South Africa, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, South Korea and the United States, the film will question why there continues to be such poverty in light of so much progress. Film will be finished in May 2007 and distributed worldwide.
“With each film we produce or distribute,” says Diaz, “We aim to make a difference. Not a bad day's work”
Details:
Hollywood Film Festival at the ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood.
"The Empire In Africa" screens Sunday, October 22 at 5:00pm
http://hollywoodawards.com/screenings/index2006.html About Cinema Libre Studio:
Cinema Libre Studio is a haven for independent filmmakers with views, offering one-stop shopping for production, co-production, distribution, foreign sales, marketing, and post-production services. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company is best known for distributing titles that include: “Outfoxed,” “Uncovered,” Tim Robbins’ “Embedded Live,” “Giuliani Time” and “America: Freedom to Fascism.” In the past five months, Cinema Libre Studio films have won four awards including “Conventioneers,”(Winner of the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards ‘John Cassavetes’ Award and Best Feature at the Florida Film Festival), “The Empire in Africa,” (Best Documentary at Slamdance 2006), and “Giuliani Time” (Best Documentary at the Silver Lake Film Festival 2006).
For more information visit www.cinemalibrestudio.com.
