'Angels in the Dust' Gets Guardian Angels

Actress Alicia Witt Signs on as Spokesperson to Support AIDS Orphanage Featured in Documentary

LOS ANGELES, CA, August 16, 2007--Participant Productions’ award winning documentary, Angels in the Dust, is set to open September 14 in New York City and in Los Angeles on September 28 with cities nationwide to follow. Actress Alicia Witt (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Upside of Anger) has signed on as a spokesperson for the Boikarabelo orphanage, around which the film centers. A social action campaign developed by Participant Productions will accompany the documentary. This campaign will feature an alliance with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and is designed to raise awareness about the HIV-AIDS pandemic and to bring the orphanage to the audience through an innovative online “Virtual Orphanage.” 

Actress Alicia Witt, who recently wrapped production on 88 Minutes opposite Al Pacino and who also stars in the USA Network drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent, has agreed to help the Boikarabelo orphanage as a spokesperson. “I cried when I saw this movie – I am so impressed by what Marion and Con have chosen to do with their lives, that I decided to try and help them and to everything I could to draw attention this film,” said the actress.

The Boikarabelo orphanage is currently funded by individual donations. Utilizing Google Map’s technology, the “Virtual Orphanage” (www.participate.net) shows an aerial view of the orphanage, offering a multimedia tour of photo stills, description and video of the people who live and work there. Audiences will be able to wander through the orphanage, meet its residents, get a sense of what daily life is like there – and of the basics it needs just to operate – everything from water to a generator. Individuals who would like to make a tax deductible donation to the orphanage may do so via a link to AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Network For Good.

Angels in the Dust, directed by Louise Hogarth (The Gift), is the inspiring story of Marion Cloete who—with her husband and two daughters—fearlessly walked away from a privileged life in a wealthy Johannesburg suburb to establish Boikarabelo, an extraordinary village and school that provide shelter, food, and education to more than 550 South African children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For a nation overwhelmed by HIV/AIDS, orphans, rape, violence, and apartheid’s legacy of social and political unrest, the film offers a clear pathway towards hope and a replicable paradigm for the future. The doc has picked up the 2007 Emerging Pictures/Full Frame Audience Award as well as the Special Jury Prize- Seattle International Film Festival.

Angels in the Dust was written & directed by Louise Hogarth, produced by James Egan and Louise Hogarth and executive produced by Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann. Cinema Libre Studio is handling distribution. More information is available at www.participate.net.

About Participant Productions--Participant Productions is a Los Angeles-based production company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films and documentaries. Participant’s films have been chosen to awaken, inspire and empower audiences to take action and create change. The company is headed by CEO Jim Berk and President Ricky Strauss. Participant was founded in January 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as Chairman. Participant's most recent success is An Inconvenient Truth, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary and Best Original Song and has become the third-highest grossing documentary in history. Past films have included Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, North Country and Murderball, which collectively received 11 Academy Award nominations in 2006. For more information visit www.participate.net .

About Cinema Libre Studio--Cinema Libre Studio is a haven for independent filmmakers with views, offering one-stop shopping for production, co-production, and distribution, foreign sales, marketing, and post-production services. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company is best known for distributing social issue documentaries and narrative features in theatres and on DVD which include Outfoxed, Uncovered: The War on Iraq, The Empire in Africa, Conventioneers, Darfur Diaries and many more. For more information visit www.cinemalibrestudio.com.

Theatrical Release Information:
 

09/14/07 – New York, NY
City Cinemas Village East, 181 2nd Avenue
 

9/28/07 - Los Angeles, CA
Theatre TBA
 

09/28/07 – San Francisco/Bay Area, CA
Theatre TBA
 

09/28/07- Berkeley, CA
Landmark Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave.
 

10/12/07 – Boston, MA
Landmark Kendall Cinema, One Kendall Square
 

10/12/07 - Washington, DC
Landmark E Street Cinema, 555 11th Street NW
 

10/12/07 – Philadelphia, PA
Ritz at the Bourse, 400 Ranstead Street
 

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CONTACTS:
Cathy Mouton
Theatrical Release/Interviews with Filmmakers/LA & Other Press Screenings
Cinema Libre Studio
818-349-8822
cmouton@cinemalibrestudio.com

Wellington Love
New York Media & Press Screenings
15minutes
207 West 25th Street, PH West
New York, NY 10001
212-366-4992
wellingtonlove@15minutespr.com

Rachel Aberly
Participant Productions/Alicia Witt
310-550-5109
rachel.aberly@participantproductions.com