PRESS RELEASE FOR "M.I.A"

CARLISLE, MA- For the first time ever an American has won the Angel Awards Trophy for best film at the Monaco International Film Festival. On December 11, 2005, at the Theatre Princesse Grace in Monte Carlo, Massachusetts resident Gabrielle Savage Dockterman received the award for her debut feature film, "Missing In America," starring Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon"), David Strathairn ("Goodnight and Good Luck"), Linda Hamilton ("Terminator"), Ron Perlman ("Hellboy") and newcomer Zoe Weizenbaum of Amherst, MA, who currently has a principal role as young Pumpkin in "Memoirs of a Geisha." Dockterman's film swept the festival, winning three other awards, including "Best Actor" for Danny Glover, "Best Actress" for Zoe Weizenbaum, and "Best Director" for Dockterman.

A film about healing and forgiveness, "Missing In America" is a contemporary story of a Vietnam veteran (Glover) who has lived in self-imposed exile for more than thirty years and is haunted by memories of lives lost under his command. A former member of his platoon (Strathairn) unexpectedly appears at his remote cabin, only to vanish overnight, leaving behind his young, half-Vietnamese daughter (Zoe Weizenbaum). The screenplay is based on a story by Vietnam vet Ken Miller of Washington state, and was co-written by Miller, Dockterman, and Nancy L. Babine, also of Carlisle. Although it is not autobiographical, it is grounded in Miller's understanding of the pain that he and many other veterans carry, not only because of what they saw and did, but also because of how they were treated at home. First Look Pictures will release the film on VHS and DVD across North America on January 10.

Dockterman discovered child actress Weizenbaum after considering hundreds of girls across North America. Actor/director Peter Berkrot heard about Weizenbaum through a friend of a friend who had seen her in a community stage production of "Peter Pan." "Zoe wasn't even looking for a film role," Dockterman said. "It's amazing that we found her."

Dockterman has won several other awards for her film, including the Audience Award for "Emerging Director" at both the St. Louis International Film Festival in November, and the Woods Hole Film Festival in August. She also accepted the Screen Actor's Guild award for "Emerging Actress" on behalf of Zoe Weizenbaum at the St. Louis International Film Festival, while Weizenbaum was in Western Massachusetts accepting her award for "Best New Actress, New England" at the Northampton Film Festival.

The Monaco International Film Festival Angel Awards are presented to films that convey the best messages of humanity, either for positive change, love or inner values, or for a new beginning of quality entertainment through adventure, suspense, comedy and romance. An international jury led by Prince Aimery de Polignac, France and Monaco, judged the film festival's annual Angel Awards competition. Festival co-founders, Executive Director Rosana Golden and Director of Programming Dean Bentley, select the Angel Awards Trophy winner for best film. "For the winner, Dean and I listen to everyone - the jury, the audience, and also our own hearts - and then we decide," Golden said. "Sometimes it is a difficult decision, but in this case it was unanimous."

Dockterman had hoped the story would appeal to an international audience. "World audiences want to know how Americans at home feel about what their country is doing overseas. Even though the film is about disenfranchised veterans of an American war that ended decades ago, it's timely because we have soldiers coming home from war every day," she said. "People want to know how Middle America feels about being at war, and if we learned any lessons from Vietnam."

For more information about the film, including background information, cast and crew bios, and downloadable high resolution photos (for media use only: user name=mia and password=redemption, all lower case), visit www.MissingInAmericaMovie.com. New Films International of Beverly Hills, CA, is handling foreign distribution. Sales of available ancillary rights are represented by Lantern Lane Entertainment, Calabasas, CA.