�Keiko The Untold Story� Showing at Starz Film Festival in Denver Saturday and Sunday

The Humane Society of the United States and The Free Willy Keiko Foundation representatives to answer questions about the film documenting the orca movie star�s return to the wild

(Nov. 11, 2010) The Humane Society of the United States and The Free Willy Keiko Foundation will have representatives at the Starz Film Festival in Denver this weekend, where the documentary film �Keiko The Untold Story� will have showings on Saturday and Sunday. Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for The HSUS who holds a doctorate in biology, and Mark Berman, associate director of The FWKF, are both featured in the film and will answer questions after the showings, along with film-maker Theresa Demarest.

�Hollywood couldn�t have written a better story than Keiko�s real-life adventures,� said Rose. �A lot of misinformation is out there on what happened to him and this movie makes it clear - his last years were very good ones.�

The compelling story of Keiko, the orca star of the 1993 feature film �Free Willy,� ended in 2003 with his death from pneumonia, but many people who initially followed his journey from a small tank in Mexico to a much larger one in Oregon never knew how he spent his final five years in Iceland and Norway. �Keiko: The Untold Story� (www.keikotheuntoldstory.com <http://www.keikotheuntoldstory.com/> ) finally sets the record straight on Keiko�s precedent-setting return to his natural habitat.

�It�s very exciting to have the film showing in festivals at last,� said Berman. �People will finally learn how amazing this whale and his journey home really were.�  

Demarest, the first-time film-maker and musician who spent four years on the documentary, said, �The film was a long time in the making, but it was worth it. It�s great to have two of the narrators here at Starz to answer audience questions.�

�Keiko The Untold Story� is showing at 11a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13 and again at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14 (http://www.denverfilm.org/).  

Media Contact: Pepper Ballard: 301-258-1417; [email protected]">[email protected]

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation?s largest animal protection organization ? backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- On the web at humanesociety.org.  <http://www.humanesociety.org/>