Queensland's Great Neck Arts Center Screens BODY OF WAR; Host Q&A with Producer Phil Donahue Today

BODY OF WAR will receive a film screening and Q&A with producer Phil Donahue today, April 7, 2013 at 3:30 pm (doors open at 3pm) at Great Neck Arts Center Theatre (113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck). Tickets are $25. Call (516) 829-2570 or buy online at www.goldcoastfilmfestival.org/specialevents. For more about the venue, visit www.greatneckarts.org.

Body of War is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine - wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week.

Body of War is Tomas' coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, and features two original songs by Eddie Vedder. Body of War is a naked and honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man.

Body of War captured, among others, the Best Documentary award from the National Board of Review; the Grand Jury Prize at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival; and a People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.

In 1967, Phil Donahue changed the face of daytime television, pioneering the audience-participation talk format as the host of the Donahue show, a 29-year run which stands as the longest of its kind in U.S. television history. His TV journalism earned him 20 Emmy Awards - 9 as host and 11 for the show - as well as the George Foster Peabody Award; the President's Award from the National Women's Political Caucus; the Media Person of the Year Award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance; and induction into the Academy of Television's Hall of Fame. TV Guide named him one of the 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Donahue has frequently been lauded for his groundbreaking interviews with world leaders and newsmakers - including Muhammad Ali, Johnny Carson, Ayn Rand, Ariel Sharon, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Richard and Pat Nixon, Elton John, MadaLyn Murray O'Hair (his first Donahue guest) and presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. In 1985, he introduced satellite "spacebridge" telecasts between the United States and the Soviet Union, and then brought his talk show to Russia for a week of programs. He was the first Western journalist to visit Chernobyl after the nuclear accident there.

Donahue's opinion columns have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. He is the author of the best-selling memoir, Donahue: My Own Story; and The Human Animal, an exploration of human behavior. A native of Cleveland and the father of five and grandfather of two, Donahue is married to award-winning actress, author and activist Marlo Thomas. They live in New York.

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