Armand Assante film wins at Gasparilla International Film Festival
Orange County actor takes Best Short Documentary prize
TAMPA, Fla. —"Dialogue From the Steppes," a 27-minute short film written and directed by actor Armand Assante of Campbell Hall, has won the top documentary short prize at this year's Gasparilla International Film Festival.
The film was awarded Best Short Documentary at the festival in Tampa, Fla. Assante received the Career Achievement Award from the festival three years ago.
Assante, who appeared in such films as "Mambo Kings," "Private Benjamin" and "Gotti," owns a farmhouse in Campbell Hall.
"Dialogue From the Steppes" articulates the opinion that the nation of Kazakhstan has every right to be progenitor of the World Forum of Spiritual Culture, a major global peace initiative.
"What Kazakshstan has endured in the last 300 years, and especially the last 80 years, exemplifies how this country has set a precedent for tolerance and peace initiatives that affect the world and the planet," Assante said during an audience discussion following the screening of the documentary short.
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"Their president has worked wonders in the last 20 years, taking it from a country once near starvation to a serious international player in all categories. He eliminated the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, inherited from the Soviets, which had disastrous radiation fallout consequences. And he was the first in that region who demanded from Russia that the voice of the Kazakh people be heard."
Assante was originally invited to Kazakhstan by the Kazakhstan Film Festival for his film "California Dreamin'," which garnered awards at more than 21 international film festivals in 2007. Unable to attend because of his work schedule, Assante made the trip later that year and became fascinated with the people and their culture.
Assante also has been working in Kazakhstan for more than six months this year producing "The Whole World at Our Feet," a feature film for Kazakhstan with entrepreneur Mussa Dauren, founder of Khazar Films.