A film festival gala screening with strong Sault connections

NEWS RELEASE CINEFEST SUDBURY ************************ Warren P.

NEWS RELEASE

CINEFEST SUDBURY

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Warren P. Sonoda’s The Masked Saint to be presented as the Wednesday Night Gala presentation

SUDBURY – Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival is thrilled to announce that The Masked Saint will be presented as the Wednesday Night Gala Presentation on Wednesday, September 17, at the 26th edition of the Festival.

The Masked Saint will screen at 7 p.m. at SilverCity Sudbury.

There will be a catered reception following the film at Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel.

The Masked Saint [Warren P. Sonoda, Canada, 2014]

The Masked Saint revolves around the life of Chris Samuels (Brett Granstaff), a professional wrestler and family man who realizes he needs something more.

His calling to become a pastor prompts him to retire from wrestling and move with his wife (Lara-Jean Chorostecki) and daughter (T.J. McGibbon) to a small town.

Yet the battles he faced in the ring are minor compared to the challenges he must overcome at his new church.

From an overbearing congregant (Patrick McKenna) and failing attendance to mounting bills for church repairs, Samuels has his hands full.

When Samuels stumbles onto a fight on the seedy side of town, his wrestling skills take down the assailant and a masked vigilante is born.

His talent, as well as his violent secret identity, begins to overshadow his calling as a Pastor and it takes his faith and family to remind him about grace, goodness and the truth.

The Masked Saint was filmed in Sault Ste. Marie.

The film is produced by Cliff Mcdowell of P23 Productions who is a native of Sault Ste. Marie.

The film's executive producers are Gary Granstaff of Ridgerock Faith, Joseph Sisto, Kenin Spivak and Michael Cerenzie.

Michael Cerenzie also a native of Sault Ste. Marie has produced films for the past twenty years for MGM\UA, HBO, Paramount Studios to name a few.

His last production was the critically acclaimed Before The Devil Knows You're Dead directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet and starred Philip Seymore Hoffman, Ethan Hawk, Marisa Tomei, Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan and Albert Finney.

Michael is very excited to have returned to Canada to have the opportunity to have worked with Ridgerock Faith and Cliff Mcdowell's P23 Productions to mark his first Canadian production.

He is also delighted and excited for audiences to experience the wonderful direction of Warren's talent as a filmmaker and is deeply thankful for Cineplex's support and belief in this creative endeavour.

Cinéfest Sudbury’s Wednesday Gala Presentation is generously sponsored by The Kinsmen Club of Sudbury.

All Gala Film Presentation screenings will take place at SilverCity Sudbury, located at 355 Barrydowne Road.

The 26th edition of Cinéfest Sudbury runs from September 13 - 21, 2014.

For further information, please contact the Cinéfest Sudbury office at (705) 688-1234 or visit www.cinefest.com.

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