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Acclaimed Film by Oscar Nominee, Adrian Belic to be Given a Special Preview Screening at the 2008 Roving Eye Documentary Film Festival

PROVIDENCE, RI (April 3, 2008) – Over the past four years, the Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) has provided an opportunity for local audiences to see new cinematic work before being screened at the main Festival in August. Called the “First Look” series, many notable films had their “unofficial premieres” and went on gather acclaim, awards and distribution.

“Our ‘First Look series’ is about discovery,” noted George T. Marshall, RIIFF’s Executive Director. “We are very fortunate to see so much exciting new work that comes our way during the course of the year. Instead of restricting it to the six days of the Festival, we strongly believe that these films deserve as much exposure as possible and hence the creation of this sidebar.

On Friday, April 11th, the Festival will be presenting a powerful and thought-provoking new documentary by Academy Award nominated director, Adrian Belic. The film: “Beyond the Call,” which is also part of the month-long Roving Eye Documentary Film Festival that RIIFF produces.

“This film could not be more timely when citizens of the United States are addressing issues of globalization and the perception of Americans by the international community,” added Marshall.

About the Film:

Ed Artis, James Laws and Walt Ratterman are three middle-aged men whose idea of adventure is taking desperately needed food and medicine to communities devastated by natural disasters and plagued by war.

In 1995, they formed Knightsbridge International, a unique humanitarian aid organization, whose motto is 'High Adventure and Service to Humanity.' Artis explains: 'We're not there to change anybody's politics, we're not in the God business, and we pay our own way.' As Laws tells it simply, “We do what we can, when we can, because we can.”

These former soldiers and modern day knights travel the world delivering life saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians in some of the most dangerous yet beautiful places on Earth. Winner of thirty awards, this “Mother Teresa meets Indiana Jones” adventure has screened at over eighty film festivals on five continents.

And now it comes to Rhode Island.

About the Filmmaker:

Adrian Belic was born in America of Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian parents, Adrian grew up in Chicago, Illinois, USA, but spent many summers behind the “Iron Curtain” in Eastern Europe speaking the languages and living with family and friends. This unique cross-cultural upbringing sparked his curiosity about the way people view each other and the world around them. Listening late into the night to captivating stories from remarkable people both in the States and overseas drew him into the art of storytelling.


He began making films in elementary school with his childhood friend Christopher Nolan (writer / director Memento, (2001), Insomnia (2002), Batman (2005)) and his brother Roko Belic. During their second year of filmmaking (at the age of 8) STAR WARS exploded on the film scene and their once-quaint films grew into 3-minute Super 8 ‘epics’ with ping-pong tables shrouded in cooking flour for planetary stop-action battles, continuing to live-action scenes in the snow-covered backyards of Chicago, all punctuated with fireworks and film frames scratched by hand for “laser” effects. The power of storytelling through motion pictures and sound captivated him.

Adrian graduated from University of Southern California in 1993 with a BS degree in Political Science and a minor in International Relations.

While in college and after college Adrian traveled around the world and across America. He worked with various producers -- co-producing, shooting video and film, recording sound, and story development. He served as the director of an environmental information center in Los Angeles for a year before a childhood fascination with a little known country in southern Siberia called Tuva resurrected itself.

Adrian and his brother, Roko, formed Wadi Rum Productions in 1995 and embarked on their first production, GENGHIS BLUES, winner of the 1999 Sundance Audience Award, as well as many domestic and international film festival awards, and a 2000 Academy Award Nomination for Best Feature Documentary.

Adrian recently completed his latest project BEYOND THE CALL; a feature documentary shot in the Afghanistan and Asia about three Americans who travel to the world’s war zones delivering lifesaving humanitarian aid (www.wadirum.com) (www.kbi.org). They are a cross between Mother Teresa and Indiana Jones.

Adrian is a member of the Film Arts Foundation and the International Documentary Association. 
He continues to speak and write about filmmaking and following ones passion, as well as teaching
and serving on film festivals juries. But most of all, he is working on his films and traveling the world.

THE WHO, WHAT AND WHERE OF IT:

When:

Friday, April 11th at 8:00 p.m. Doors Open at 7:30 p.m.

Where:

Columbus Theatre Arts Center, 270 Broadway, Providence. Contact Information: (401) 621-9660 or RIIFF at (401) 861-4445

Cost:

$10 donation; members and students with a valid ID, $8.00

All proceeds generated by the screening will be used for the planning and production of RIIFF’s 12th Annual Season. RIIFF is a 501-C(3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information, write RIIFF, P.O. Box 162, Newport, RI 02840. Telephone: 401-861-4445. E-mail: info@film-festival.org

BEYOND THE CALL: Film poster

ABOUT THE RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:

The Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) discovers and empowers filmmakers.  Held in Providence, and locations throughout the state of Rhode Island, RIIFF is one of only a handful of festivals worldwide that is a qualifying event for the Academy Awards (i.e. “Oscars”). RIIFF incorporates gala celebrations, premiere screenings, VIP guests, industry seminars, educational programs, and award ceremonies into a week-long extravaganza.  Cited as one of the "Best International and Short Film Festivals in the United States," RIIFF is New England’s largest film festival, screening a record 300 films.  Its innovative programming, cultivated industry ties, and loyal audiences have made the Festival a strategic and desirable platform for film premieres, drawing hundreds of independent filmmakers from around the globe.