Paradise Recovered, An Independent Film About Spiritual Abuse - Los Angeles Premiere - November 29th - The Downtown Independent
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Local Film Investigating Spiritual Abuse and Religious Cults to Screen in Los Angeles
This event will take place on November 29, 2010 at The Downtown Independent at 7 pm. The 2010 HollyShorts Grand Jury Prize Winner PIANO FINGERS opens the event. An after-party sponsored by Musical Family Tree will feature the music of Sara Melson.
An official selection at both the 2010 Austin and Heartland Film Festivals, Paradise Recovered is the story of Esther Harris (Heather Del Rio), a young woman praised for her virtue and devotion to Warren F. Vanderbilt’s Prophetic Watchman Ministries, has been given the opportunity of a lifetime – to attend Vanderbilt’s Kingdom Bible College.
When the fundamentalist Christian sect falls on hard times, Esther looks for employment at a local health food store to supplement the group’s income.
At the store, Esther gets a chance to share her faith with her new manager, Gabriel (Dane Hurlburt), a devout skeptic and preacher’s kid, and his roommate, Mark (Oliver Luke), a college drop-out who finds Christian television to be great entertainment.
The friendship with Gabriel and Mark help Esther determine her human worth while helping her reframe her faith in a whole new light.
Richard Dillard (Temple Grandin, Dazed and Confused), Andrew Sensenig (W., I Love You, Phillip Morris), Austin Chittim (Rain, Kabluey), Wendy Zavaleta, Jim Aabear, and Marina Seitsinger round out this Austin-based cast. David Blue Garcia (Artois The Goat, SXSW 2009) served as the Director of Photography.
Shot entirely on location in Southern Indiana and Austin, Texas, Paradise Recovered attempts a modern-day retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan while addressing hard questions involving faith, tolerance, and spiritual abuse in modern culture.
The film was recently screened at Heartland and Austin Film Festivals and received a number of independent critic accolades:
“Seldom has a film been constructed around such themes as religion, spiritual abuse and religious tolerance with such intelligence and grace.”
“More than anything else, Paradise Recovered turns out to prove that religious and spiritual people can peacefully co-exist with atheists, agnostics and everyone else as long as there is an open and intelligent discourse. In other words, listening and understanding is significantly more important than attempting to convert others to your beliefs.”
“The film never pushes too hard, features appealing performances, and allows its characters to have honest discussions about religion and faith.”
This is the debut film for Director Storme Wood. “The outpouring for our little film at Heartland and Austin Film Festivals has really been amazing. Andie wrote this script that was the movie I always wanted to make. It fit the style and the tone of the thing I always imagined would be great to do. It’s been great interacting with survivors, giving them a voice through a film made with a lot of collaboration and a lot of heart. I’m proud of the effort, and it’s exciting to see where we are headed.”
The majority of the cast and crew hail from Austin, and all of the independent music featured in the film comes from Indiana. "I like to think that our film has dual citizenship," explains Wood.
Writer Andie Redwine, a survivor of spiritual abuse herself, interviewed over 100 high-demand church survivors to create the story of Paradise Recovered. "No matter which group I studied or person I interviewed, each of the groups were similar in their ability to recruit members and keep them in fear of losing their salvation. This film was made for those survivors, and I am proud of what we achieved on such a small budget."
Steven Hassan, M.Ed., LMHC, renowned cult expert and author of Combatting Cult Mind Control, had this to say about Paradise Recovered: "Paradise Recovered is a remarkable film, the best in memory, about cult mind control and how people are able to help themselves and others to freedom. It is so well done. I hope millions of people watch this movie and understand that it is a fictionalized depiction of groups that really exist, with charismatic leaders who claim to speak for God exclusively. "
10% of the profits of Paradise Recovered go directly to Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Albany, Ohio. Wellspring is a residential treatment center for those who have been abused in relationships, cults, situations of trauma, and by destructive therapeutic alliances resulting in emotional betrayal and/or physical harm.
The Film Courage Interactive is a three-part event featuring 1) Two short films with Directors' Q & A; 2) A feature film screening of Paradise Recovered with Director's Q&A; and 3) An in-depth discussion among fellow artists on upcoming projects, the current state of independent film, and epiphanies about the business (similar to a filmmaker support group).
The goal of the Film Courage Interactive is to build an appetite for independent film, bringing artists together in a collaborative setting while experiencing the state-of-the-art theatre, The Downtown Independent.
Andie Redwine Writer/Producer, "Paradise Recovered"
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