PorchLight Doc Selected for Additional Film Festivals

LOS ANGELES, July 28:
PorchLight Entertainment’s documentary War Child will be screened at several upcoming film
festivals, including the Montreal International Film Festival.

The film, chronicling
Emmanuel Jal’s rise from Sudanese boy soldier to international hip hop
recording artist, will be shown at the Deauville Film Festival, International
Documentary Association’s 2008 Docuweek Theatrical Showcase, the Helsinki
International Film Festival in September and will be the opening-night film at
the International Arts Festival in Capri with Jal and director and producer
Karim Chrobog in attendance. Additional screenings include the Dominican
Republic Global Film Festival, the Festival by the Sea in the Netherlands, the
Athens International Film Festival, the Bergen (Norway) International Film
Festival, the African Film Festival in Cologne and the Jersey Amnesty Film
Festival.

War Child premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and won the
audience award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, the best documentary at
the Bologna Film Festival and the audience choice for best world cinema
documentary at the Maui Film Festival. The documentary also has been shown at
the Seattle Film Festival and the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Jal’s music has appeared
in the movie Blood Diamond and
the show E.R., and he recently
performed at Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebration in London.

Ken DuBow,
the president of worldwide distribution for PorchLight, said: “It’s great to
see this wonderful film so warmly welcomed by the international community.
Emmanuel Jal’s story, and his compelling live performance at the Nikki Beach in
honor of the film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, brought War Child the attention it so richly derives, and to see it
validated by so many invitations to some of the world’s most prestigious and
important festivals is a testament to Karim Chrobog’s beautifully rendered
documentary about Emmanuel, who is such an extraordinary and talented young
man. It’s very gratifying for the PorchLight team, as we have branched out from
our roots in children’s and family programming, to bring this film and the rest
of our slate to the international market’s attention.”

—By Jackie Stewart