DISCHARGE.NWO
United States - World Premiere
65 mins.

This is a film about human hopelessness. Tania, Vuk and Matt are faced with the idea of Serbian genocide and the actuality of the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia in 1999. Emotions, opinions, images and facts run wild in this film giving us insight into the very human events that occurred for these people. While politicians are playing war, our characters find themselves in obscure reality. They find themselves in life's limbo. Director/Producer: Deni Blaise
Camera Assistant: Matt McGuire
Editor: Terri Breed
Print Contact: 818-509-1172

LUGOSI: HOLLYWOOD'S DRACULA
United States - World Premiere
49 mins.

Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula paints a vivid portrait of the life, career and lasting impact of film actor Bela Lugosi. The documentary creatively blends interviews of his friends and famous co-workers with film clips, home movies and photographs into a moody and atmospheric biography. Narrated by Rue McClanahan and Robert Clarke, Lugosi breathes new life into a screen legend and horror icon.

Director/Writer: Gary D. Rhodes
Producers: Don Rhodes, Richard Sheffield
Cinematography: James Cain
Editor: Bob Stovall
Cast: Narrated by Rue McClanahan and Robert Clarke. Starring Robert Wise, Bela Lugosi Jr., Hope Lugosi, Louise Currie, Loretta King, Sammy Petrillo.
Print Contact: 323-845-1455, Seventh Art Releasing

MY KHMER HEART
Australia - World Premiere
97 mins.

In 1993, Geraldine Cox, the milkman's daughter from Australia, decided to devote her life to the children of Cambodia. Three years in the making, My Khmer Heart, documents Geraldine's fight to save her orphanage both during and after Prime Minister Hun Sen's bloody coup in 1997. Despite the dangers to her own life, due to her friendship with Hun Sen's bitter enemy, ousted Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Geraldine remains in Cambodia during the fighting, but is later forced to leave, and separated from her children for five months. There is only one person who can help Geraldine remain in Cambodia ... Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen.

Director/Writer: Janine Hosking
Producers: Janine Hosking, Leonie Lowe
Cinematographers: Rod Pollard, Noel Jones, Greg Barbera
Editor: David Schmidt
Print Contact: 61 2 9550 4925, iCandy productions

ONE GIRL AGAINST THE MAFIA
Italy - West Coast Premiere
56 mins.

"Rome, 1992. What I really want when I die is to have a burial ceremony with only a few people attending -- those who took my side in the struggle for justice." Rita Atria sealed those fateful words into the confines of her private diary. On November 5, 1991, this young 17-year-old Sicilian went to see the anti-Mafia judge (who was a woman) to seek vengeance for the murders of her father and brother, both of whom had been "Men of Honor" in the Mafia. It was the first time that such a young woman from a family linked to the Mafia had broken the code of silence. From that moment on, Rita's days were numbered. This is her story, a univeral story of resistance to oppression and the fight for justice.

Director/Writer: Marco Amenta
Producers: Marco Amenta, Florent Marcie
Directors of Photography: Sergio Salvati, Marco Amenta
Editors: Thimoty Miller, Xavier Barthelemy
Print Contact: +39 091 611 41 92, Eurofilm

RUNNING ON THE SUN
United States - World Premiere
100 mins.

Running on the Sun chronicles the passion and resilience of the human spirit as seen through the lens of the world's most difficult race, a 135-mile ultra-marathon set in the inferno of Death Valley in July.

Director: Mel Stuart
Producers: Mel Stuart, Richard Houghton, Kirk Friedman
Directors of Photography: John Malvino, Kevin O'Brien, David West
Editor: Greg Byers
Cast: The Runners: Adam Bookspan, Angelika Castaneda, Eric Clifton, Maria De Jesus, Jack Denness, Gabriel Flores, Dan Jensen, Kirk Johnson, Major Curt Maples, Chris Moon, Nick Palazzo, Ephraim Romesburg, Lisa Smith. Narrated by Dr. Ben Jones.
Print Contact: 858-551-7310

SUGIHARA: CONSPIRACY OF KINDNESS
United States - World Premiere
BY INVITATION ONLY.
100 mins.

The history of World War II tells many remarkable tales of heroism and courage. But no story is more compelling or inspirational than that of Chiune Sugihara. In the face of the Nazi onslaught in Europe, at great risk to his career and life, he single-handedly saved more than 2,000 lives, using his power as a diplomat to rescue fleeing Jewish refugees. This documentary tells the remarkable story of Chiune Sugihara, his wife and their family, as well as chronicling the fascinating relationship between the Japanese and the Jews during the 1930s and '40s.

Director/Writer: Robert Kirk
Producer: Diane Estelle Vicari
Director of Photography: Paul Dougherty
Editor: Matt Stevenson
Cast: Narrated by Neill Ross
Print Contact: 818-817-9690, Digital Ranch

2000 Film Program, 4th Annual Hollywood Film Festival®