July 22, 2004

Spiritual Film Festival Showcases Shorts in New York Debut

NEW YORK, July 22, 2004—Redemption, struggle, wonder, surprise. These raw, truthful moments define the essence of the Damah Film Festival—Spiritual Experiences in Film, a burgeoning annual arts event that took its show on the road this year, making its first tour stop in Park City, Utah during Sundance, and scheduled to screen spiritual shorts in New York, Washington DC, Seattle and Houston before year’s end.

On August 24, 2004 at New York’s Tribeca Grand Hotel (2 Avenue of the Americas, NY), amateur and professional filmmakers from around the world will screen nine award-winning short films designed to stimulate discussion and provide a platform for spiritual expression. Members of the media are invited to a VIP Cocktail hour at 9:30 pm. Screenings will commence at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm, hosted by Damah Founding Board members.

Two New York-based independent filmmakers screening original work, Anna Condo (director of Alchemy) and Scott Teems (director of Root), will also be on-site for interview.

Hollywood heavyweight jurors included:

• Tom Shadyac, producer of Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, and Ace Ventura Pet Detective
• Ralph Winter, producer of X-Men 1&2 and Planet of the Apes
• Howard Kazanjian, producer of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi
• Stephen Simon, producer of What Dreams May Come
• Michael Medved, author and film critic of the New York Post, CNN, and PBS

“Damah Film Festival was created to inspire and transform the viewer with powerful, spiritual stories,” said Sean Dimond, co-founder of The Damah Group. “The artists represented here come from a variety of spiritual perspectives, and each film defines their own unique human experience seen through the lens of spiritual themes.”

Damah (an ancient Hebrew word that means “a metaphor that transforms”) is the only short film festival in the world focused solely on celebrating and exploring the spiritual dimension of life from diverse perspectives. Each year, filmmakers compete for thousands of dollars of awards in four categories based on length.

The next Damah Awards Festival will be held in Los Angeles February 17-20, 2005. Look for more details in coming months at www.damah.com.

# # #