My name is Daria Trifu and I am the Producer of the feature film PUNCTURED HOPE. The film has been qualified for the Academy Awards® 2010 nomination consideration and it has been nominated in two categories by the Political Film Society (Hollywood) as ‘best film exposé’ and ‘best film on human rights’ of 2009.

Upcoming screening for Women in Film (WIF) taking place on Saturday, January 9th at the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica @ 11:00 AM. A Q&A period with Director Bruno Pischiutta and myself will follow.

Bruno Pischiutta and I are available for interviews.

The film is also screening on Sunday, January 10th at the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex - we are donating 20 tickets to the OPCC shelter for the women who are victims of Domestic Abuse.

We are donating 10% of the Net profit of PUNCTURED HOPE to the village in Africa (Ghana) where the film was shot.

PUNCTURED HOPE is based on the true life story of a West African Trokosi slave who plays the leading role in the film. She was genitally mutilated and sexually abused for years when, as a virgin girl, she was enslaved to become a victim of the Trokosi custom practice. Trokosi is one of the widest spread forms of women slavery that exists today in the world. 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 portrays her life from the age of innocence to premature adulthood, against a backdrop of real and very animated African village life.

Coordinator for Amnesty International in Los Angeles, Mihoko Tokoro, had this to say about the film: “PUNCTURED HOPE is a very powerful and politically important feature film that the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Science should truly consider for a nomination this year. Such a nomination is not only deserved for a beautifully executed film but it will also help to raise the much needed attention, on a global scale, to the issue of women and children slavery in today's West Africa and of the genital mutilation of women in the world. We need to reach out, inform and get the support of the global community  to create an equal world where human rights and human dignity are respected. Through the medium of film, PUNCTURED HOPE, represents a great tool to reach out to the general public for support. I commend the work of the film’s director and producer who made this great film and fight, step by step, to raise awareness to the issues it addresses.”

“We, as a company, want to win the fight against ignorance and bigotry. I 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. I want that the rights of women and children are respected. I want to fight intellectual pollution, stupidity, racism and discrimination. I want to show that nonviolent film can be commercially viable and it can help to make a better world.” - Director Bruno Pischiutta

Thomson Reuters media coverage available at: http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/2009/11/13/RTV2188309/

Contact me for more information at (corporate@filmail.com) OR (1-647-296-3459).

Daria Trifu

Producer, V.P. & C.O.O.

Toronto Pictures, Inc.

Worldwide Mobile: (1) 647-296-3459

E: corporate@filmail.com

Websites:

www.torontopictures.com

www.torontopictures.wordpress.com

www.puncturedhope.blogspot.com

www.youtube.com/TorontoPictures

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