Video Contests, Film Festivals, and Awards

Canadian Film Chosen for Film Festival in New York City

By StudentFilmmakers.com
posted Jun 18, 2012, 11:58

(Montreal, Canada) - The award winning short film drama, Nawzad Lost, a creation of Montreal filmmaker Costa Moshopoulos, has been officially selected to be screened at the 6th Annual Manhattan Film Festival. Dubbed a ��13 minute gem� by NewsFirst.ca, Nawzad Lost takes viewers into the precarious world of war and innocent civilians.

Many amateur filmmakers who step into the realm of the silver screen do so with the primary desire to see their creativity come to life. Few however, dare to dream, let only whisper their hope of public acclaim, but such is the case for an up-and-coming filmmaker from Montreal. Costa Moshopoulos� creative piece Nawzad Lost has captured the attention of the Manhattan Film Festival, named top 25 film festivals worth the entry by Movie Maker Magazine and won the Royal Reel Award at the Canada International Film Festival. The Manhattan Film Festival will also showcase films starring fellow Canadian Michael Cera and Andy Garcia. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/29/idUS124053+29-May-2012+PRN20120529

In a market that is already well-saturated with grim depictions of war, Nawzad Lost, with its unique and eerie look into war-torn Afghanistan, has successfully managed to stand apart from its peers. The 13-minute short film stars Gemini Award winner Christine Ghawi and co-star Chelsie Ostrega, and is centred around a mother and daughter who struggle to cope with the effects of war. The film contains no dialogue, providing viewers with an unsettling visual and auditory portrayal of the war.

"The majority of war films quite effectively and gruesomely capture the violence from the point of view of soldiers," explains filmmaker and owner of FEGARI Entertainment http://www.fegari.ca/Fegari_Entertainment/Home.html, Costa Moshopoulos. �My desire was to provide people with an experience that took them out of the battlefield and into the fragile world of civilians. I didn�t want a verbal depiction of what civilians go through. I wanted viewers to live it � to hear and feel their fear. When life hangs in the balance, it�s this ambiguity that is the most unnerving, and that�s what I wanted to capture - without words.�

The seed of Nawzad Lost came to life not long after the terrorist attacks in New York City. Filmed in 2004, the film almost never came to be however, when Costa was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2006, after a 15 year battle with the illness. Finally after 7 years the film was completed. Nawzad Lost, along with his self-established mental health foundation the �Rise Up Project� http://theriseupproject.ca/The_Rise_Up_Project/Home.html, became a personal endeavour that Costa tirelessly and dauntlessly battled to bring to life. The fact that his film is now premiering in New York is an achievement in itself. The Canadian filmmaker was just happy to have completed the project.

�It�s all rather surreal,� Costa concludes. �I�m still amazed that this is all happening. It�s been a long, hard road but I�m so grateful that something amazing has resulted from my struggle.�





Resources:

www.manhattanfilmfestival.org