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Comment by Elisabetta Errani Emaldi on November 16, 2009 at 12:45pm

ACADEMY AWARDS 2010 CONTENDER:
PUNCTURED HOPE
A Story about Trokosi and Young Girls' Slavery in Today's West Africa

(Feature Film, Canada, US$5.8M, 35 mm, Color, English, Not Rated, Drama, 91 min.)

PUNCTURED HOPE is screening in Los Angeles at the Encino Laemmle Theater - Town Center 5 between November 13 to 19, 2009.

Synopsis:

The story takes place in today's Ghana. According to Trokosi custom, if someone commits a crime, traditional leaders order that a young girl from that family be sent to the shrine as a form of atonement. The chief priest and his entourage genitally mutilate and sexually abuse the girl. Against all odds, the protagonist of the story escapes the shrine. PUNCTURED HOPE follows her life from the age of innocence to premature adulthood, against a backdrop of real and very animated African village life.

Director Bruno Pischiutta - Born in Udine, Italy in 1947, Bruno Pischiutta began his film career in the late 60's as an actor in films by Francesco Rosi, Nanni Loy and Billy Wilder. In 1975 he founded the Centro Iniziative di Azione Culturale in Rome. He made his directorial debut in 1975 with COMPAGNE NUDE, and he moved to Canada in 1983. His other films include ULTIMO INCONTRO A VENEZIA (1977), ISOLA MECCANICA (1978), THE COMOEDIA (1981), LIFE'S CHARADE (1987) and MAYBE (2003).

Film Director Bruno Pischiutta´s CAUSE is worth fighting for

Toronto, Canada (TransWorldNews) -- On the occasion of his film, PUNCTURED HOPE, being announced as Toronto Pictures´ contender for the 2010 Academy Awards, Director Bruno Pischiutta has addressed the members of his private social network in a letter that breaks down the concept of his company´s CAUSE.

"Through PUNCTURED HOPE we want to help to free the slaves of the Trokosi tradition and to eliminate the barbaric practice of genital mutilation from the world.

We have other goals too.

We want that the rights of women and children are respected. We want to fight intellectual pollution, stupidity, racism and discrimination. We want to show that nonviolent film can be commercially viable and it can help to make a better world. We want to win the fight against ignorance and bigotry. We want to use film as an artistic weapon to improve the lifestyle and mentality of the viewers, to make their life better and to make them think in a positive way about major social problems that anguish our world today.

Our business identifies with our art; our art identifies with our life. We have decided, long time ago, to live a life with a CAUSE that motivates us, our art and our work. Our CAUSE is driven by high ideals and it is more important than anyone of us.

It is a new world; it is time for a new morality! It is time to put the important things first. We are working for our CAUSE through the medium of film because we are filmmakers. Film is our way to express ourselves and we are aware that our films will live after us: they will become our legacy.

PUNCTURED HOPE is a very important film and it is a product that we are proud of. In the other way, it is only one component that is part of a very complex and sophisticated agenda, it represents one moment in time when the participation of everyone who is inspired by our CAUSE is welcome".

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