American Jihadist Named Best Documentary At 2010 Slamdance Film Festival

Jan. 29, 2010 - PRLog -- Park City, Utah – American Jihadist, the directorial debut from Mark Claywell, claimed the Grand Jury "Sparky" Award for Best Documentary Film at last night’s Awards Ceremony of the 16th Annual Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film, which had its world premiere on January 24 at the festival, continues its run online through Zune and Xbox LIVE until February 2, 2010 as part of an innovative arrangement between Slamdance and Microsoft. As a Grand Jury Award winner, American Jihadist will also be screened in several domestic venues throughout the year, including the IFC Center in New York City.

A look at militant Islam through the eyes of an American who fought for it, American Jihadist is the story of Isa Abdullah Ali, a.k.a. Cleven Raphael Holt, who grew up in the ghettos of America’s capitol and was surrounded by physical and psychological violence from birth. The feature-length documentary considers the role that such violence and lack of hope for the future play in the development of radicalism and poses the question: “What makes a person willing to kill and die for their religion?”

As the founder of Hype Media, Inc., and with over 20 years of experience as an award-winning commercial director, Mark Claywell has created and directed various national and international advertising campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. Claywell directed, shot, produced and edited the majority of the footage for American Jihadist including interviews in Bosnia, Lebanon, Iran, England, Washington, DC, Boston, and New York City. This is his first feature film.

Jody Jenkins (Writer/Producer) is an editor at France 24, a 24-hour news network in Paris. He has covered the Czechoslovakian and Romanian revolutions, the Kurdish refugee crisis in the wake of the first Gulf War, and the Serbo-Croatian and Bosnian wars. For the past ten years he has been researching American Muslims who fight as jihadists. He is currently researching the life of Larimer Mellon for Claywell's next documentary.

Francois Bringer (Cameraman) has 20 years of experience as a director, producer and reporter covering events in the Middle East, Africa and Europe for CBS, the History Channel and Al Jazeera English.

The 2010 Slamdance Film Festival received a record number of over 5,000 submissions from every continent and programmed 91 films this year including eight documentaries. Slamdance takes place each year in Utah at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival, competing to provide a truer representation of independent filmmaking. Programmed by filmmakers for filmmakers, Slamdance has earned a solid reputation for premiering films by first-time writers and directors working within the creative confines of limited budgets. For more information on Slamdance, please visit www.slamdance.com.

American Jihadist is being promoted by Mark Claywell and Jody Jenkins. All rights to the story are available. For more information, please visit the film’s website at www.americanjihadist.com. To schedule an interview with Mark Claywell, please contact Hype Media, Inc. at 912/234-6962 or email Mark Claywell at claywell@americanjihadist.com.