The Damah Film Festival Goes to Hiroshima

The Damah Film Festival, a renowned festival known for featuring amazing short films focusing on the importance of story and spirituality in filmmaking, will be traveling out of the country this December as the Damah Film Festival in Hiroshima will take place December 11th-13th, 2009. The festival will feature showcases of this year’s nominees as well as a special screening of a full-length feature film.

This year, the festival will screen the Ralph Winter-produced feature film thriller, The Least of These, which stars former Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington.

Screenings and workshops for the festival will be held at the International Conference Center Hiroshima  (ICCH), which is internationally recognized as a symbol of Peace, positioned within the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The G8 summit was held at the ICCH in 2008.

“We are honored that the Damah Film Festival will be held in Hiroshima,” notes the city’s mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba “I understand that not only the finalists’ short films, but also the special juror Ralph Winter’s film and the Hiroshima-born director Miwa Nishikawa’s film will be screened, and I am looking forward to seeing them.  It will make for an inspiring festival for both the audience and filmmakers.”

The Least of These was written and directed by Nathan Scoggins, and in addition to Isaiah Washington, stars Robert Loggia (Independence Day, BIG, The Sopranos), Bob Gunton (Shawshank Redemption, Patch Adams, The Perfect Storm, 24) and John Billingsley (True Blood, Out of Time, Star Trek: Enterprise, 24). Following the screening will be a Q & A with the filmmakers.

“Damah Hiroshima offers us a unique opportunity to expand our film festival’s horizons and provide new outlets and new opportunities for our filmmakers,” noted Damah board president Mark Joseph who was born and raised in Japan. “Our vision for Damah Hiroshima is to create a venue where filmmakers can share their unique point of view.”

This year’s ten short-film finalists have been announced and will be judged by Damah’s distinguished jurors, which include producer Barbie Tung (Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike) and producer Ralph Winter (X-Men, Fantastic Four). All twelve finalists are eligible to compete for the Hiroshima Grand Prix Award, which has a cash prize of 300,000 JPY (about $3,000 US). Winners will also have the opportunity to be a part of a special compilation DVD following the festival.

For a complete list of the ten Damah Film Festival Hiroshima finalists, please visit: http://www.damah.jp/en/programs.html

“There are so many exciting new developments for Damah this year,” said Damah’s Executive Director Jimmy Duke. “We had an opportunity to not only host this year’s US festival in Seattle but we are partnering with the Hiroshima branch to make this an international affair. All in all, our hope is that these films will inspire more filmmakers, both stateside and abroad, to get out and tell their story.”

The 9th Annual Damah Film Festival was held in Seattle, Washington on October 2-3, 2009. The Festival wrapped up the weekend with an awards presentation that presented the top prizes to three films: First prizewinner was the short film And What Remains, a documentary about reconciliation between a father and son. Second place was awarded to The Old Man & The Ceiling, a dramatic piece about a man who wakes up for the first time after his wife of 50 years has passed away. Third place went to Weathered, a short about a woman who copes with the death of her fiancé by scheduling doctor’s appointments. The three filmmakers won prizes of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.

Be sure to stay updated on the latest for the upcoming Damah Film Festival Hiroshima news at www.Damah.jp.

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