For more information contact:
Kristen Foster/ Erica Gerard          
(646) 792-2230                                                                 
KFoster@KFPR.net/ Egerard@KFPR.net                                 

Click here for Post-Premier Canvas Photos!

 

CANVAS

Award Winning Hollywood, Florida film maker premieres feature film in South Florida on October 17^TH  at Cinema Paradiso

Starring Emmy Award winner Joe Pantoliano and

Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden

And introducing Devon Gearhart

"First Rate Performances." - John Anderson, Variety

"A triumphant, beautifully acted film" - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

HONORED BY NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
OUTSTANDING MEDIA AWARD for DRAMATIC MOTION PICTURE

OTHER HONORS INCLUDE:
NY Film Critics Series screening
Audience Award - Sarasota Film Festival
Best Feature Film Award - Sedona Film Festival
Outstanding Acting Award- Joe Pantoliano - Sedona Film Festival
Audience Award - Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
Best Dramatic Performance Award - Joe Pantoliano - Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
Hampton's Int'l Film Festival Official Selection- Spotlight Film (Non-competition)
Distinctive Voices Award - Joe Pantoliano & Joseph Greco - National Council on Behavioral Healthcare
AFI-Dallas Film Festival Official Selection

(New York, NY, September 7, 2007 ) -  CANVAS  is the emotionally charged story of one family's struggle with mental illness, starring Emmy Award winner Joe Pantoliano, Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden and newcomer Devon Gearhart that will premier in South Florida theaters on Wednesday October 17, 2007 with a South Florida general release date of October 19, 2007.  The October 17^th premiere will be a special star-studded event at Cinema Paradiso and will be followed by a VIP reception.

In his debut feature film, writer/director Joseph Greco, a South Florida native, explores mental illness through the eyes of a child as he learns to cope with his schizophrenic mother in a sincere depiction inspired by the filmmaker's own childhood.  The tough topic matter is addressed with a surprisingly uplifting and sometimes even humorous tone that illustrates how from tragedy springs hope, growth, and understanding in this remarkably heartfelt tale.  

Doctors and members of the mental health community have been rallying behind the film. Dr. Steven Ronik, the Chief Executive Officer of Henderson Mental Health Center in Broward County, Florida, is one such community leader and advocate. "My hope is that CANVAS will help people understand that as a community we must move beyond the stigma of mental health problems and view these issues with the gift of human compassion."  Henderson Mental Health Center has several South Florida locations and is a private, not-for-profit behavioral healthcare organization that provides comprehensive, recovery-focused services to children and adults.  The Center provides a range of high quality, community-based prevention, education, treatment, and rehabilitation services. "CANVAS is insightful, and a compellingly moving portrayal of the impact of mental illness on the life of a family and this opportunity to bring to light the aspects of mental illness via a local film maker is not to be missed," Dr. Ronik added.

Henderson Mental Health Center is joining forces with Joseph Greco, the director, to help families become aware of their facilities and services in South Florida. Henderson provides accessible, cost effective, and quality behavioral healthcare services to promote mental health and well-being.  "CANVAS is inspired by my own childhood growing up in Hollywood, FL with a mentally ill parent, but what started out as a personal film is now becoming a story about hope for anyone facing any kind of intractable problem," says Greco.  To find out more about Henderson and mental health issues, visit www.hendersonmhc.org.

Evelyn Miller, a consultant to the film and the co-director of National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI), says having the opportunity to witness CANVAS come to fruition in Broward County was a wonderful experience. Ms. Miller was working with the director when he started to look for resources and financing.  "I have watched CANVAS become the important and vital film it is today, an authentic and powerful portrayal about an ordinary family coping with mental illness. This award winning film is as full of hope and humor as it is heartwarming and heartbreaking," Miller continued.

For actor Joe Pantoliano the film was a learning experience.  "This film has been a very personal journey in helping me to understand mental illness and the magnitude of brain disease.  In doing this film I have been liberated in looking at the stigmas and lack of education on mental illness and the importance of being accurately diagnosed.  I realize now that my mother's behavior of 'choice' was not her choice.  Now 25 years after her death I understand that my mother went through her entire life undiagnosed.  Canvas has that liberating affect on all of us."  Pantoliano also stressed, "This film isn't just about schizophrenia, it is about mental illness and how families and communities deal with it from day to day in a very positive way.  I have seen mental illness demonized, romanticized, but never depicted realistically.  Canvas is a sincere portrayal based on personal experience.  The film is truly a prescription for hope. "

It is estimated that mental illness affects 1 in 5 families in America with nearly 6% of Americans. Going much deeper than Schizophrenia, the film explores the larger issue of mental illness and the affects it has on families, friends, neighbors, and communities.  It also explores the fine line between madness and eccentricity.  In addition to receiving several awards at film festivals, CANVAS has been touching audiences in unexpected ways, often receiving standing ovations. 

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CANVAS premiere, October 17, 2007 @ Cinema Paradiso, Fort Lauderdale, FL:

To be a part of the CANVAS premiere and the VIP event contact Karen Drumheller, Director of Development, at 954-777-1624 or kdrumheller@hendersonmhc.org .

Film Synopsis

Ten-year-old Chris Marino, played by newcomer Devon Gearhart, just wants to be normal but his mother's (Marcia Gay Harden) bouts of paranoia and delusion give new meaning to the term dysfunctional family.  Dad, John, (Joe Pantoliano) breaks his back as a construction worker struggling to pay for Mary's doctor bills, and find the right medicine to treat her schizophrenia, leaving little time or energy to give to his son.  When Mary's behavior takes a dangerous turn, father and son watch helplessly as the police drag Mary out of the house to hospitalize her in a mental institution.

Unable to face his wife's illness or console his son, John begins building a mysterious object in the driveway of their home.  He quits his job, the bills pile up, but John compulsively works day and night to build a sailboat, abandoning his son at his darkest hour.  Ridiculed at school and terrified that he too will become 'crazy', Chris is left adrift without a mother or father's support.  Desperate to escape his troubled family, Chris makes plans to move in with an aunt in Alaska resulting in a dramatic confrontation between father and son.

With newfound understanding and respect, father and son work tirelessly to complete the boat together, hopeful that Mary will join them on the maiden voyage.  Mary, still plagued by voices but lucid enough to acknowledge her illness, makes the painful decision not to join her family.  Disappointed but determined not to let down his son, John sets sail and teaches Chris the magic of sailing.  Working together, father and son come to terms with Mary's illness and inspire each other to hope.  In a grand gesture John and Chris bring the boat to Mary-reuniting the family and fulfilling a special promise made long ago.

To find out more about the film, visit www.canvasthefilm.com.

About Henderson Mental Health Center:

Henderson Mental Health Center is private, not-for-profit 501(c)3 behavioral healthcare organization providing comprehensive, recovery-focused services for over 53 years.  They serve nearly 20,000 people every year.  Henderson is proud to be a key behavioral health care partner delivering services for children, adolescents, adults, elders, and families. 

Henderson's operations are separated into eight functional divisions: Crisis Services, Youth and Family Services, Residential Services, Community Support Services, Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Prevention and Education, Adult Outpatient, and Administration.  They have fourteen (14) locations throughout Broward County offering: Psychiatry, Residential Treatment, Foster Care, Assertive Community Treatment; Crisis, Rehabilitation Services, Supported Employment, Outpatient, Forensic, Case Management, Overlay, Homeless Outreach, Emergency Shelter, Scattered-site Housing, and a Homeless Drop In Center.  Henderson provides individual, group and family therapy; medication education/management; psychiatric and nursing assessments and treatment; and peer and family support groups.  To get help for a family member or friend, please contact Henderson Mental Health Center's Crisis Line at 954-463-0911.

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updated 09/07/07