April 6, 2002                                                                For Immediate Release

Agora, a short film shot at the Minnesota State Fair in 2000, is currently enjoying a four-month, coast-to-coast film festival tour of America.  On March 1, 2002, Agora began a journey that will take it from the Southwest to the Midwest, from New York City to the Deep South, and along the California coast.  It will be presented to new audiences in eight states before wrapping up the first leg of its 2002 screening schedule at the Atlanta Film Festival in June.  But the undisputed highlight of the festival tour will be the film's return to its hometown on April 14, where Agora is to be awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the 20^th Annual Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul fest is the largest film event in the upper Midwest, and has earned a reputation as one of the most eclectic film festivals in the nation.  Each year, the short film prizewinner is selected from an international field of finalists in the Emerging Filmmaker Competition, awarded by a jury of critics, filmmakers and academics.  The Minneapolis screening will take place at 12:30pm on Sunday, April 14, at the Heights Theatre.

Other highlights of the tour include a "People's Choice" Screening at the 35^th Humboldt International Short Film Festival in Arcata, California, and the film’s New York premiere at the Brooklyn International Film Festival in late April.  Agora will also take a brief detour from its American screenings as it is presented on May 1 to its first European audience, in Dunajská Streda, Slovakia, as a part of MEDIAWAVE 2002 – the Fényirok Fesztiválja International Filmfestival.  

Mahogany Ellis-Crutchfield and Payton Von Eschen, in a scene from Agora.

Agora was directed by Minnesota native Chris Newberry.  Newberry graduated from Northwestern University before returning to Minnesota to direct his previous short, 2o/2o Vision, which received significant media attention when its featured player, Jesse Ventura, was named Governor in an upset election.  2o/2o Vision opened the 1999 edition of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival, premiering in front of a record crowd at the Historic State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. 

Newberry, a recipient of a 2000 Jerome Foundation Media Arts Grant, recently earned an MA in Feature Film at the University of London.  Among Newberry’s collaborators on Agora was Australian-born cinematographer Paul Guthrie, who shoots films when he himself is not on tour — he designs concert lighting and visual effects for likes of Sheryl Crow and K.D. Lang.  Guthrie’s strong sense of tempo and lyrical motion helped to lend Agora its energetic visual style.

At a running time of just under eight minutes, Agora tells the simple tale of a young girl lost at the Fair.  Separated from her mother, the girl must find the courage to help a stranger despite daunting circumstances and bizarre surroundings.  The young heroine is portrayed by eight-year-old Mahogany Ellis-Crutchfield, while her new companion is played by four-year-old Payton Von Eschen.

Last year, Agora was invited to premiere at the 50^th Melbourne International Film Festival in July, competing as a finalist in the International Short Films Competition. Agora was subsequently acquired for the Exemplary Works Collection at the new Australian Centre for the Moving Image. The film made its stateside debut at the 2001 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.  

Agora was made possible by a generous grant from the Jerome Foundation, based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

For more info on Agora, click here.