"Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal's Maoist Army" Wins Artivist Award for Children's Advocacy at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival

For Immediate Release
Hollywood CA (October 1, 2008)

"Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal's Maoist Army" makes its Hollywood premiere on October 4, 2008 at 3:30 pm at The Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028.

Additionally “Returned” has been selected to receive the award of "Best Short, Children's Advocacy" at The Artivist Awards ceremony, which will be take place at 7:00pm on Sunday, October 5, at The Egyptian Theatre. There will be a red carpet event prior to the ceremony and a catered reception afterwards.

The film “Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal's Maoist Army" examines the reintegration of child soldiers after the recent the civil war in Nepal.

When asked about the driving force behind picking the topic of child soldiers in Nepal, the film's director Robert Koenig said, “Like most people, I generally am concerned about the suffering of children. However, I was not fully aware of the plight of former child soldiers in Nepal until a researcher friend, Brandon Kohrt, who later became the co-writer of "Returned," told me about his work with former Nepali child soldiers and the communities to which they are returning." "Returned” gives a voice to these children and bring a larger awareness to the difficulties that they are now facing.

Chris Riedesel, VP of The Artivist Collective asked Robert Koenig to describe his feelings about being honored with an Artivist Award.

“Receiving the award of Best Short, Children's Advocacy for "Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal's Maoist Army" at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival is an amazing honor.” Koenig said. “I was delighted just to have the film selected as part of the Artivist Film Festival, because their mission of raising awareness for global causes furthers the mission of our film. Receiving an Artivist Award makes me appreciate that this film has the potential to influence people to take action and help these children. I am extremely proud of the entire team that worked so hard to make this film a reality.”

The 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival will take place on October 2 – 5, 2008, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California. Additionally, Artivist Films be touring a selection of films over the following two months in London, Lisbon, Mexico City and Tokyo.

Films that premiered at the Artivist Film Festival include ACADEMY AWARD winner "Born into Brothels", ACADEMY AWARD Nominee "Super Size Me", ACADEMY AWARD Nominee, "God Sleeps in Rwanda", and the premieres of "Fast Food Nation", "Emmanuelle's Gift", "Trudell", and more.

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To see a preview or learn more about the film Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal's Maoist Army go to http://nepaldocumentary.com/

To arrange for Robert Koenig to show the film "Returned" and speak to your school, group, workshop or seminar, or to arrange an interview with Robert Koenig or Brandon Kohrt, please go to the contact page at www.nepaldocumentary.com