FEATURE-LENGTH CARTOON “BYE-BYE BIN LADEN” HAS WORLD PREMIERE IN MIAMI MARCH 28, 2009 The feature-length animated musical “Bye-Bye Bin Laden,” a satire about war, TV and religious excess at home and abroad, will have its world premiere in Miami on Saturday, March 28, 2009, as an Official Selection of the South Beach International Animation Festival. The cast of characters includes Bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and Jenna and George Bush. It’s narrated by the ghost of Mark Bingham (gay hero of Flight 93), for the benefit of the post-apocalyptic roach-boy, Josh. Because animation is incredibly labor-intensive, independently produced feature-length cartoons are the rarest birds in the indie world and it’s hard to think of others debuting in 2009. “Bye-Bye Bin Laden’s” Saturday night 8:30 time slot is considered the most prestigious at The South Beach International Animation Festival, which screens its selections at the hip, charming Miami Beach Cinematheque, 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach, FL 33139 (305.673.4567). “We wanted to have our world premiere in Miami because Miami is the most international city in America, and because the South Beach Animation Festival is suddenly very hot,” said writer-director Scott Sublett. The animated film “Bye-Bye Bin Laden” is based on the stage musical of the same name, which had its world premiere in San Francisco in 2004 and was the world’s first musical comedy about the titular terrorist. Now it’s the first feature-length animation to be made at any university on planet Earth (which is hilariously destroyed at the beginning of the movie). “‘South Park’ meets ‘The Daily Show,’” is how the director describes the film. “We’re absolutely a comedy, but we have very serious things to say about war, the media, women’s rights, and most of all religious extremism.” The film was made in connection with San Jose State University with a student crew. Because animation is so labor intensive, “indie” animated features are rare – and independent animated features aimed at adults are even rarer. The film version has yet to be reviewed in the press, but the San Francisco Bay Guardian named the stage musical “Bye-Bye Bin Laden” one of the “top five premieres of 2004,” and Guardian critic Robert Avila raved about it: “The role of TV in the battle of empty-headed ideas shares center stage with some world-class assholes in Custom Made Theatre Company's world premiere of Bye-Bye, bin Laden! If it took more than two decades after World War II for Mel Brooks to work Adolf Hitler into a musical comedy, it’s taken writer Scott Sublett and composer Jef Labes only two to put Osama bin Laden… on the boards, strutting and singing with costars Mullah Omar… and George W. Bush… What's the rush? “The premise of this smartly written, consistently funny, and well-acted romp rests on competing TV campaigns by rival theocrats determined to win the hearts and minds of the American public. Making a virtue of bad taste, I Love Prakhbar spoofs I Love Lucy with Osama in place of Ricky, bringing Taliban-tested tactics to bear on his mischievous redheaded wife ("You're always up to your crazy antics – like the time you spoke in public!"). George W. teams up with his party-happy but surprisingly humane daughter Jenna… for a Sonny and Cher rip-off. And Omar leads a game show (Ask the Taliban) in which the answers are supplied to the contestants. The angelic ghost of Flight 93's Mark Bingham… acts as narrator… The determinedly off-color humor sometimes ushers in more reality than a joke can sustain, at least without a cringing sense of horror accompanying it. But such moments are rare, and forgivable in the context of an ultimately warm-hearted work whose simple moral about the dire necessity of laughter goes a long way toward reclaiming lives ruthlessly manipulated by fear on both sides of the theocratic divide.” “Bye-Bye Bin Laden” will be released on DVD and VOD by Cinequest Distribution later in 2009. For the screeners, or to interview the filmmakers, contact: Scott.Sublett@SJSU.edu. For the South Beach International Animation Festival contact: noreen@southbeachanimationfest.com. For stills visit our website, Bye-ByeBin Laden.com.