I was priveliged on Sunday to be able to see the new independent film Bella. It won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival this past fall, which makes it an Oscar contender by default (Life is Beautiful won it, as did American Beauty).

Aside from the specifics, when I saw this movie I was most literally blown away. Not only is it an amazing message, but it’s an all around beautiful film. I was impressed by every aspect of the movie, and yes, I cried. It needs to be seen.

 Here’s the brief description FUS gave on the school website:

Bella tells the story of a fallen international soccer star (Eduardo Verastegui) who reaches out to a young waitress (Tammy Blanchard) facing a life-changing decision. As their lives are turned upside down, both characters find that the healing power of family helps redeem their pasts and gives hope for the future.

So my mission from now until this film is released in the theaters is to promote this movie like crazy, and I encourage anyone reading this to do the same, even if you haven’t seen it. You will want to, and that can’t happen unless this movie shows in as many theaters as possible.

So, here’s how you can do it:

1. Help “Bella” online by giving “Bella” high scores on the online films sites like IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, and iVillage.
2. Promote “Bella” Online by linking to their MySpace or Facebook websites and joining or creating “Bella” websites, blogs, and message boards.
3. Hand out “Bella Commitment Tickets” - Print and hand out 500 Commitment tickets to encourage people to promote films that can have a positive impact on the world by buying 2 tickets to see “Bella” on Opening Night.
4. Encourage and organize groups to go to “Bella” - Organize a large group to go see “Bella” on Opening Weekend.
5. Post “Bella” materials in high traffic areas in your city (posters, etc.)
6. Send a press kit to your local press and write letters to national press encouraging them to give “Bella” coverage.
7. Join the “Bella” volunteer team - Work as a part time volunteer helping “Bella” from now through Opening Weekend.

If this movie is allowed to enter as many theaters as possible, it will change lives, I guaruntee it. I’ll be keeping up on the where and when of Opening Weekend so we can organize a massive exodus to the nearest movie theaters. For now, check out the trailer and other information about the film at BellatheMovie.Com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 at 11:01PM and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.