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Susan Beasy Latto, slatto@d.umn.edu
315 Darland Administration Bldg.
1049 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812
(218) 726-8830 Cell: (218) 348-5688
Fax: (218) 726-7413
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH
June 6, 2000
Contact:
Susan Beasy Latto, Director of Public
Relations 218 726-8830
Joseph Maiolo, Workshop Director 218 726-8226
Acclaimed Independent American
Film to Hold Premier in Duluth
NorShor Theater-June 26 at 7 p.m.
Event Part of UMD Writers' Workshop Series
Producer Peter Wentworth will be in attendance on June 26 to discuss the film and answer questions after the screening. Wentworth has produced numerous feature films, including the Academy Award-nominated Metropolitan.
Joseph Maiolo, Professor of English at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) and Director of the Duluth Writers' Workshop, is currently collaborating with Paradise Falls producer Peter Wentworth and director, Nick Searcy, on a feature film, based on the life of a Depression-era minister, titled The Man Who Moved a Mountain.
Paradise Falls director, Nick Searcy, is best known for his work as an actor in the films Fried Green Tomatoes, Nell, and The Fugitive and the HBO Mini-Series From Earth to the Moon. Searcy will be seen this fall/holiday season co-starring with Tom Hanks in the Robert Zemeckis film Castaway. Searcy was excited to direct Paradise Falls, as he felt that Hollywood films seldom captured the South as he knew it as a native of the mountains of North Carolina.
Writers Sue Ellen Bridgers and Sean Bridgers shared comparable views on the portrayal of Southerners in most movies. Sean, an actor who can be seen in Nell and Once upon a Time When We Were Colored, and Sue Ellen (his mother), a highly respected novelist, felt strongly about controlling the script's authenticity. Thus, they hand-picked both the director and the producer.
Paradise Falls draws upon many of the folk tales and myths surrounding the bank robbers who characterized the Depression-era South, such as Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie and Clyde. Professor Maiolo said, "The film is intelligent, beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and, most importantly, fast-moving and entertaining."
The film will be shown one time only on Monday, June 26 at 7:00 PM at the NorShor Theater in Duluth. This will be the film's Midwest regional premier before its theatrical release later this year.
Attached is a calendar of events of literary readings and a panel discussion on "Getting Published" which are FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC as part of the UMD Writers' Workshop.
For press kits and press interviews please contact:
Susan Beasy Latto, Director of Public Relations, University of Minnesota Duluth
(218) 726-8830 FAX: (218 )726-6186
email: slatto@d.umn.edu