The world premiere of the documentary RWANDA RISING has been selected to open the 15th annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival. The star-studded event will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 8th at the Directors Guild of America with producer Ambassador Andrew Young in attendance. Acclaimed filmmaker and actor Forest Whitaker, PAFF’s 2007 Celebrity Host, will emcee the evening. PAFF’s annual gala after party will follow the screening and be held at the Directors Guild of America, which is located at 7920 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Tickets are $150 For sales and more information, please call (323) 295-1706 or visit www.paff.org.

“15 years into the Pan African Film and Arts Festival and we continue to showcase the important stories of our brothers and sisters on the Continent,” said festival director Ayuko Babu. “Having Rwanda Rising open this year’s festival is keeping in that tradition while making sure that we stay connected to our roots in Africa.”

In just 100 days, nearly a million people were killed by neighbors who somehow became strangers - otherwise decent people who, even now, well over a decade later, still can't believe they could be part of such a thing. The genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 defies imagination, but "how and why" are questions without answers, questions of the past. A far greater mystery is unfolding in the here and now.

Somehow, the people of Rwanda have learned to forgive the unforgivable. By all appearances, they not only are coexisting, but actually living and working together to rebuild their country as a model of economic prosperity for the rest of Africa.

In RWANDA RISING, former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, a Civil Rights leader and top aide to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., set out to document the amazing transformation taking place in Rwanda today. The country's remarkable story of reconciliation despite enormous odds, Ambassador Young believes, provides hope for other seemingly hopeless situations around the world.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who is friends with Young and appears in the film, echoes that sentiment. "I wish that we could have some of that spirit in the Middle East," Clinton says. "I wish we could have some of that spirit in other places where there are conflicts that people just can't let go of."

Other key interviews include Rwandan President Paul Kagame, composer and producer Quincy Jones, and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.

RWANDA RISING is produced and written by Andrew Young and CB Hackworth. The film is directed by CB Hackworth and the executive producer is Stephanie Fredrick.

The 15th Annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF), will take place Thursday, February 8 through Monday, February 19 at the Magic Johnson AMC Theatres and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles, California. Highlights of the 2007 festival include the star-studded red carpet Opening Night Gala to be held in Hollywood at the Director’s Guild of America on February 8 hosted by acclaimed actor and filmmaker Forest Whitaker. Known for showcasing new films first, past festival features have included box office and award-winning hits: Ray, Lackawanna Blues, Love Jones, Redemption, Love & Basketball, Crazy As Hell, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, Gridlock’d, and last year’s Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Film, Tsotsi.

Each year the PAFF presents over one hundred (100) quality films from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the South Pacific and Canada, all showcasing the diversity and complexity of people of African descent.

PAFF will also present one of America's largest fine art shows featuring prominent and emerging Black artists and fine craftspeople. This year’s featured artist is the world acclaimed Charles Bibbs. Other events include the PAFF StudentFest, Children’s Festival, and Spokenword Festival.

The PAFF attracts an audience of over 40,000 people to the films and over 150,000 attendees to the arts show. The PAFF is recognized throughout the world as America’s premiere Black film festival. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.paff.org or call (323) 295-1706.

The Pan African Film and Arts Festival was founded in 1992 as a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression. It is the PAFF's goal to present and showcase a broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. The PAFF believes film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.

The 2007 PAFF is sponsored in part by: AMC Theatres, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Union Bank of California, Target, South African Airways, Our Weekly Newspaper, The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and Courvoisier.