Impact and Outreach

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INTRODUCTION

We believe that Pray the Devil Back to Hell has had an outsized effect because of its unique screening and outreach strategy and hope to be able to amplify the effects of our future films by taking outreach to similarly expansive new levels.

Once the film had opened to more than a few audiences and some rather nice critical acclaim, we started to understand the task of outreach as having three basic goals:

1. To reach audiences in the U.S. and the developed world (for the purposes of outreach we call this group “Oprah’s Audience”) to increase their awareness of women’s activism in wartime, heighten their sensitivity to the impact of war on women and give them reason to feel greater enthusiasm and hope for their own activism, whatever that may be.


2. To reach influencers and policy makers through targeted screenings at the ministry level (such as Holland and Norway, as well as the U.S. Department of State) and in places where people of influence gather. The goal of these screenings were to ensure that in future peace talks women would be taken more seriously, that press would be more likely cover these events when they occur, and to heighten the likelihood that when women do try to influence these gatherings, they’ll find allies positioned inside the rooms where the decisions get made who will argue for their point of view.


3. To reach out to women and men in conflict zones, post conflict zones and places of political tension and instability to spark creative thinking about political organizing, to inspire with an example of incredibly strategic and courageous work, and to remind them that once in a while, such movements really do succeed.

We firmly believe that this three-pronged strategy has been enormously successful and it has turned what would have been an ephemeral bit of media into a genuine engine for political and cultural change.

– The Team at Fork Films

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Phases of Distribution

WORLD PREMIERE & FILM FESTIVALS (APRIL 2008 – PRESENT)

Pray the Devil Back to Hell premiered on April 24, 2008 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, playing to packed houses and standing ovations where it was awarded the jury prize for Best Documentary.


Abigail E. Disney, Leymah Gbowee and Gini Reticker at the premiere of Pray the Devil Back to Hell at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 2008. Photo by Greg Kessler.

The film has played in nearly 60 film festivals around the world. A selected list:

• 2008 Tribeca Film Festival*
• 2008 Silverdocs AFI/Discovery Channel Film Festival*
• 2008 Jackson Hole Film Festival*
• 2008 Heartland Film Festival*
• 2008 Traverse City Film Festival*
• 2008 Sarajevo Film Festival*
• 2008 St. Louis International Film Festival*
• 2008 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival Buenos Aires Showcase
• 2008 Aspen Film Festival
• 2008 Middle East International Film Festival
• 2008 Corona Cork Film Festival
• 2008 Bergen International Film Festival
• 2008 Sao Paulo Film Festival
• 2008 DOK Leipzig
• 2008 Cineworld Film Festival
• 2008 IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)
• 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival*
• 2009 Santa Barbara International Film Festival*
• 2009 TriContinental Film Festival* (India & South Asia)
• 2009 One World International Human Rights Festival* (Prague)
• 2009 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (London)
• 2009 Belfast Film Festival
• 2009 Amnesty International’s Movies that Matter Film Festival* (The Hague, Netherlands)
• 2009 OXDOX Film Festival
• 2009 Moscow Film Festival
• 2009 Planete Doc Film Festival (Warsaw, Poland)
• 2009 Seoul Christianity Film Festival
• 2009 One World Slovakia
• 2010 Ambulante Gira de Documentales (Mexico – various cities)
• 2010 Human Rights Arts and Film Festival (Australia – various cities)

An asterisk (*) indicates Pray the Devil Back to Hell won an award or was given an honor at this festival. Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of awards.

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INTERNATIONAL SALES (SUMMER 2008 – PRESENT)

With ro*co films international as its international distributor for all rights outside of the United States, Pray the Devil Back to Hell has been licensed to nearly 20 countries and/or territories. Link to international broadcasters

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INDEPENDENT THEATRICAL RELEASE (NOVEMBER 2008 – APRIL 2009)

Pray the Devil Back to Hell had a successful theatrical release distributed by Balcony Releasing, opening in theaters in November 2008 and playing to positive reviews in over 40 cities through April 2009.




Balcony Releasing secured theatrical engagements via traditional booking methods and by renting theatres in a “four-wall” arrangement in major markets including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Seattle and Washington D.C., opening on November 7, 2008 in New York City and the rest of the markets rolling out after that.

Publicity

To supplement Balcony Releasing’s marketing and advertising plan, the boutique consultancy firm Fat Dot handled public relations for national and New York-based press, and served as a liaison for other publicists in other local markets.

Community Outreach during Theatrical Release

To bolster ticket sales, momentum, public attention, and audience engagement on a community level, Fork Films and Balcony Releasing collaborated with Working Films and Auburn Media to connect with organizations working with issues related to PRAY.

Working Films was the primary outreach partner and implemented outreach in New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle, targeting organizations working in restorative justice, women’s issues, and peaceful resolution to violent conflict.

Auburn Media coordinated outreach to faith communities in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Berkeley, CA, and Chicago. Auburn reached out to seminaries, churches, mosques, interfaith groups, national religious organizations, religious peace and justice organizations, and religious women’s networks.

Theatrical Showcase

Prior to the theatrical release, the film was accepted into the IDA (International Documentary Association)'s 12th Annual DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcases in August 2008, which qualified the film for Academy Award submission.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell was one out of the 15 films selected for the short list / semi-final round of the nomination process in the Documentary Feature Category for the 81st Academy Awards. A record 94 pictures had originally qualified in the category.

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SEMI-THEATRICAL / GRASSROOTS AND COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTION
GLOBAL PEACE TOUR (MARCH 2009- OCTOBER 2009)

Please see our Global Peace Tour Page for detailed information about the semi-theatrical campaign / grassroots and community distribution.

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EDUCATIONAL DISTRIBUTION (APRIL 2009 – PRESENT)

The newly formed ro*co films educational (sister company to ro*co films international) launched sales for the Pray the Devil Back to Hell Educational DVD worldwide on April 27, 2009. The 2-disc DVD includes both a 72 and 60 minute version and a 17 page discussion guide written by the teachers college at Columbia University. PRAY was ro*co films educational’s first release.

Click here to purchase the Educational and Public Viewing DVD »

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HOME DVD DISTRIBUTION (OCTOBER 2009 – PRESENT)

Fork Films launched advance sales of the Home DVD exclusively on the PRAY website on October 15, 2009.

The film’s official debut on DVD on November 10, 2009 at retailers including Netflix, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble coincided with Veteran’s Day 2009 as well as the “Many Voices, One Story” project* from Peace Is Loud.

Click here to purchase the Home DVD »

*Coinciding with The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, 16 stories by 16 peace activists were posted on Peace is Loud's website from November 25 - December 10, 2009. Read about the peace activists featured in this project by clicking here »

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GEOGRAPHIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC REACH

Pray the Devil Back to Hell has screened in all 7 continents, and in 60 countries for women, men of all walks of life, from students and average citizens in small rural areas as well as in major cities, for people in conflict regions around the world, for peace activists, and for dignitaries and politicians who make or influence the policies that drive conflict.

Here is a sampling of some of the locations that the film has screened in:

Monrovia, Liberia	Srebrenica & Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzogovina	Nairobi, Kenya	Lima, Peru
Katmandu, Nepal	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Tblisi, Georgia	Kigali, Rwanda
Enugu & Jos, Nigeria	Rumbek & Khartoum, Sudan	Baghdad, Iraq	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bangladore, & Kolkata, India	Davos & Geneva, Switzerland	Warsaw, Poland	Moscow, Russia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Meru, Kenya	Cairo, Egypt	Kabul, Afghanistan
Tizapan San Angel & Morelia, Mexico	Pristina, Kosovo	Accra, Ghana	Harare, Zimbabwe
Leipzig, Nurnberg & Berlin, Germany	Bellville, South Africa	Panksa, Czech Republic	Goma & Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo
Seoul, Korea	Manila, Philippines	Mozambique	Amsterdam & the Hague, Netherlands
Oslo & Tromso, Norway	Ramallah & Jerusalem, Israel	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Dublin, Cork, Maynooth, County Kildare & Belfast, Ireland
Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa	Northumberland & Somerset, United Kingdom	Stockholm, Sweden	Kumba, Cameroon
Glasgow, Scotland	Vilnius, Lithuania	St. Thomas, Virgin Islands	Nicosia, Cyprus
Bratislava, Slovak Republic	Island of Fogo, Republic of Cape Verde	Zagreb, Croatia	Rome, Italy
Zalau, Romania	South Melbourne, Australia	McMurdo Station, Antarctica

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More information on impact and outreach

We have divided information about Pray the Devil Back to Hell into these following sections of the website. Please click the links below to learn more about the impact of PRAY.

• Details about the grassroots screenings campaign and testimonials
• List of Awards
• Details on Notable Past Events
• All Past Screenings
• International Broadcasters
• Reviews and Praise
• In The Press
• Peace is Loud:a non-profit org inspired by PRAY
• Upcoming PBS series Women, War & Peace
• Daily Beast Women in World Summit

To request a copy of the full impact statement, please email us.

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