Participant Productions Partners With THINKFilm for Theatrical Release of 'Arna’s Children'
LOS ANGELES, CA [ October 6, 2004 ]Participant Productions Partners with THINKFilm for Theatrical Release of Arna’s Children
LOS ANGELES, CA, October 6, 2004--Participant Productions announced today that the company has acquired all US rights to the lauded documentary Arna’s Children and has partnered with THINKFilm to release the film theatrically. Participant and THINK will release Arna's, which received the Best Documentary prize at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival, Friday, October 8th in New York.
Arna Mer Khamis was a legendary activist against the Israeli Occupation. Born into a Jewish family she married a Palestinian Arab and spent her life campaigning for justice and human rights in her homeland. Arna founded an alternative education system for Palestinian children whose lives had been disrupted by Israeli occupation. In the Jenin refugee camp, Arna opened a theatre group where she taught the children to express anger, bitterness and fear through acting and art. Arna’s son, Juliano Mer Khamis, who directs the film, was a director at the theater group and filmed his mother and the children rehearsing and performing over a six year period. When Arna died of cancer in 1995, the theater group struggled to continue for another two years but ultimately did not survive.
“We are proud to be involved with Arna’s Children, a poignant film which promotes social tolerance and critical inter-cultural discussion,” said Participant’s Chief Vision Officer and SVP, Chris Adams. “THINKFilm’s track record in the doc arena and marketing prowess make them the ideal partner for Arna’s.”
As part of its dedication to empower audiences to take action, Participant will spearhead an online community outreach initiative promoting meaningful dialogue about the film and the issues it highlights at: www.arnaschildren.com.
About THINKFilm--A privately held company with offices in New York and Toronto, THINKFilm has The Story of the Weeping Camel, Festival Express, Bright Young Things and George Butler’s Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry in current release. Recent acquisitions include: The Assassination of Richard Nixon, starring Academy Award winner Sean Penn; Mark Wexler’s Tell Them Who You Are, which centers around Wexler’s relationship with his father, legendary cinematographer and filmmaker Haskell Wexler; and Susan Kaplan’s exploration of a “trinogomous” relationship among three New Yorkers, Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family.
About Participant Productions--Participant recently signed a two-picture deal with Warner Bros. on Syriana (writer/director: Stephen Gaghan; cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Peet), which is currently in production, and Class Action (director: Niki Caro; cast: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand), which is expected to shoot in early 2005. Additional Participant projects include IFC Films’ American Gun, starring Donald Sutherland, Forest Whitaker and Marcia Gay Harden, an ensemble piece about gun proliferation in America.
Jeff Skoll founded Participant Productions in January, 2004, as a Los Angeles-based production company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films and documentaries. These projects all center on important social issues that awaken, inspire and empower their audiences to make a difference. Skoll is also the founder and Chairman of The Skoll Foundation, one of the largest organizations supporting social entrepreneurs in the world. Previously, Skoll was the first employee and first President of eBay.
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