HOLLYWOOD, CA (July 26, 2005) The City of the Angels Film Festival announces that its 2005 event will explore the theme "Divine Comedy: Spirited Laughter" - 10 international films that highlight the rich complexity of humor while probing some of our gravest social problems, including racism and genocide. The festival, sponsored by Fuller Theological Seminary, Family Theater Productions, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Pepperdine University, Water's Edge Communications, and several other organizations, is open to the public and will be held Friday-Sunday, Oct. 21-23, 2005, at the Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. For more information, call 626-304-3775 or visit our website at www.cityofangelsfilmfest.org.

The mission of the City of the Angels Film Festival is to bring together spiritually charged filmmakers, media-savvy theologians, and passionate movie viewers eager to discuss films that raise ultimate questions. "Our festival is about screening great films that stimulate our feelings and alter our thinking," says festival director Scott Young.

What distinguishes The City of the Angels Film Festival from the worldwide avalanche of festivals is its focus on finding and exploring spiritual meaning in even the edgiest cinematic masterpieces. The LA Times calls it "A Best Bet" and LA Magazine has dubbed it "a true brainiacs film festival" and "one of the top 10 coolest things to do in Los Angeles." Now in its 12th year, the festival draws participants and audiences from all over the world. In addition to having the opportunity to see these films on the big screen, audiences eagerly participate in post-screening discussions led by panels of filmmakers, critics, clergy, and academics.

This year the festival examines the role of comedy in film-how comedy helps us to understand and cope with the severest circumstances of the human condition and offers us glimpses of the sacred, opening us to the possibility of the divine.

"At their best, funny moments in film overwhelm us and arouse our spirits," Young says. "Laughing our way through two hours at the theater cleanses our emotions, renews our thinking, and enlarges our imaginations. Comedy that evokes spirited laughter gives us new leases on hope and love."

This year's preliminary lineup of films includes Duck Soup, Annie Hall, The Gold Rush, The Lady Eve, The Big Lebowski, Peking Opera Blues, Blazing Saddles, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Rushmore, and Life is Beautiful. Comedy short films will precede each feature.

More information is available at www.cityofangelsfilmfest.org, or call the festival hotline at 626-304-3775.