PUNCTURED HOPE Establishes Itself as the Hollywood Avant Garde in this Awards Season

TORONTO, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Yesterday, at Toronto Pictures' headquarters, the company's President Bruno Pischiutta and Vice President Daria Trifu have announced the production of three upcoming feature films: A PARTY GIRL FOR THE RAT PACK - from the original novel "Breaking My Silence" by Jane McCormick - (US $3.5 M; filming in Brazil & USA; June 2010), scripted and directed by Bruno Pischiutta, produced by Daria Trifu; GLICINE - Wisteria (US $6.1 M; filming in Romania; September 2010) and THE SEPIA PORTRAIT (US $12 M; filming in Brazil & China; March 2011), written and directed by Pischiutta and produced by Trifu.

Toronto Pictures' film PUNCTURED HOPE has recently been nominated by the Political Film Society (Hollywood) as Best Film Exposé & Best Film on Human Rights of 2009. PUNCTURED HOPE has screened in Los Angeles since November 2009. PUNCTURED HOPE has certainly established itself as the Hollywood avant garde in this Awards Season. Each screening of the film has constituted an event. Viewers' reaction has created a grassroots movement that identifies with Bruno Pischiutta's CAUSE. Future event screenings will follow the film as it opens commercially in New York City starting in June.

The audience at PUNCTURED HOPE's screenings included members of Amnesty International, of the Green Party, of Women in Film (WIF), of Films4Change, of Veterans for Peace and film professionals. Together with the general public present, they all have chosen to join the movement behind the film and Pischiutta's CAUSE.

Toronto Pictures is trading on the OTC in the USA and plans are in motion to transfer the company on the London Stock Exchange in the coming months.

This year alone, the company is releasing commercially PUNCTURED HOPE and THE COMOEDIA: ENGLISH VERSION.

Brazilian producer and Los Angeles resident, Marcelo Brito, is in negotiations with Toronto Pictures to become an executive producer of the next two films alongside Bruno Pischiutta and Daria Trifu.

About PUNCTURED HOPE: Official Selection at the Montreal World Film Festival (2009); Nominated by The Political Film Society in two categories - Best Expose and Best Film on Human Rights of 2009; and Qualified (2009) for consideration for Academy Awards(R) 2010 as 'Best Picture'. PUNCTURED HOPE is the first main stream feature film (USD 5.8 M, Hollywood standard, 35 mm, 91 min., English Language, Color, NR) that is based on an African story interpreted by an all African cast of professional actors and shot in Africa under the direction of visionary Maestro Bruno Pischiutta. PUNCTURED HOPE is inspired by the true life story of an African Trokosi slave who manages to escape. Trokosi is one of the widest spread forms of women slavery that exists today in the world.

Film Review: http://monilazo.blogspot.com/2010/01/movie-commentary-punctured-hope.html

Human Rights Examiner Article: http://www.examiner.com/x-10438-Human-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d24-Punctured-Hope-true-story-Academy-Award-contender-opens-in-LA

Political Film Society Review: http://www.polfilms.com/puncturedhope.html

Film Video Clips: www.youtube.com/TorontoPictures

About Maestro Bruno Pischiutta: Born in Udine, Italy in 1947, Bruno Pischiutta began his film career in the late 1960s as an actor in films by Francesco Rosi, Nanni Loy and Billy Wilder. In 1975 he founded the Centro Iniziative di Azione Culturale in Rome. Pischiutta graduated from the Institute of Dramatic Art, Trieste, Italy (1966); he is a Dr. of Philosophy graduated from the University of Trieste, Italy (1971) and International Academician appointed by Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia, Italy (1981). Pischiutta has been awarded: Critics Award at Venice Film Festival (1970), Premio Simpatia (1976), Belle Arti Di Roma (1976), New York Film Festival (1981 & 1986), Bahamas One World Film Festival (2003). Pischiutta has been nominated by The Political Film Society (2009). Maestro Pischiutta is also a published writer of two books ('The Comoedia' 1980; 'E va bene parliamo di cinema' 1982) and of recognized courses for filmmakers (directing, writing, editing and acting) in Italy. He made his directorial debut in 1975 with COMPAGNE NUDE, and he moved to Canada in 1983. His other films include ULTIMO INCONTRO A VENEZIA (1977), ISOLA MECCANICA (1978), THE COMOEDIA (1981), BOUNTY HUNTERS (1985), LIFE'S CHARADE (1987), MAYBE (2003) and PUNCTURED HOPE (2009). Additionally, he wrote, directed, produced, executive produced and edited other feature films, TV shows and documentaries widely screened in cinemas and broadcast throughout Italy and other European countries to date. Bruno Pischiutta is the Founder, President and C.E.O. of Toronto Pictures and Chairman of the Toronto Pictures Film Academy of Ghana.

About Pischiutta's CAUSE: "We want that the rights of women and children are respected. We want to fight intellectual pollution, stupidity, racism and discrimination. We want to show that nonviolent film can be commercially viable and it can help to make a better world. We want to win the fight against ignorance and bigotry. We 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.

Our CAUSE is driven by high ideals and it is more important than anyone of us.

It is a new world; it is time for a new morality! It is time to put the important things first. We are working for our CAUSE through the medium of film because we are filmmakers. Film is our way to express ourselves and we are aware that our films will live after us: they will become our legacy." - Bruno Pischiutta

About Daria Trifu: Born in Brasov, Romania in 1981, Daria Trifu began her film career in the year 2000, few months after moving to Canada, as a graduate of Bruno Pischiutta's exclusive Film Acting Courses in Toronto. Trifu has studied Fine Arts since grade 5 in Europe and she graduated in 2000 with honors from the Central Technical School - Fine Arts Program in Canada. In Romania, she held private exhibitions of her paintings ever since the early age of 15 and her artwork was commissioned by prestige hotels in the mountain resort of Poiana Brasov. In her youth, Trifu, a prodigy child, excelled in sports such as tennis and sky when she won numerous competitions; she traveled the world both with her family and on her own with a National Choir attending International Festivals. Today, Trifu oversees the organization of Toronto Pictures' attendance to all major film markets such as The American Film Market, Cannes, Montreal, etc. and in 2003 she was a speaker on the "Peacefulfish & Variety Presents Global Film Finance" panel in Cannes. Trifu is the Assistant Director of the feature film MAYBE (2003); Producer & Executive Producer of the documentary BRUNO PISCHIUTTA: FILM DIRECTOR (2009) and Producer & Executive Producer of the feature film PUNCTURED HOPE (2009). She will make her acting debut in the leading female role in the feature film GLICINE (Wisteria) to be shot in Romania in 2010. Daria Trifu is the Founder, President and C.E.O. of Adhara Properties and Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of "Daria!" Magazine. She is also Vice President and C.O.O. of Toronto Pictures and President of the Toronto Pictures Film Academy of Ghana. Daria Trifu is the role model for the actual generation of Romanian girls. She is one of the youngest and most powerful film executives in the world.

About Toronto Pictures: Targeting a global audience, Toronto Pictures explores different cultures and addresses controversial issues of our time in dramatic format. Toronto Pictures develops, produces and releases Hollywood standard, 35 mm feature films that provoke thought not violence.

Official Website: www.torontopictures.com

SOURCE Toronto Pictures Inc.