DATUNA: PORTRAIT OF AMERICA wins at the 23rd Annual Raindance Film Festival

‘DATUNA: PORTRAIT OF AMERICA’ was named Feature Film of the Festival at the 23rd annual Raindance Film Festival, a documentary about the life of the artist David Datuna known for his distinctive work celebrating themes of national identity and freedom.

The festival, which closed on Sunday 4th October, hosted over 90 feature length films, 200 shorts and 30 industry events from more 48 countries with over 6,800 films submitted. The winning films were selected from a shortlist by the 2015 Raindance Jury, a panel of influential figures from the media world including Col Needham, Founder and CEO of IMDb, actress Sheridan Smith and actor Martin Freeman.

"It was an honour to part of the Raindance Film Festival, and for the film to receive such an esteemed award." stated Datuna.

‘Datuna: Portrait of America’, Directed by Brian Bayerl, follows the compelling journey of artist David Datuna as he pursues a dream of cultural and artistic freedom in his adopted country, the United States. An émigré from Soviet Georgia, the film traces his steps from a boyhood dream of being an artist to sharing his art with tens of thousands at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, one the most respected institutions in the world. As Datuna becomes the first artist globally to incorporate the use of early wearable technology devices like Google Glass in a contemporary work of art, his personal life takes a dramatic turn driven by real-life events when the 40 year old artist discovers he has stage 3 lung cancer.

Amy Henderson, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's historian emerita said, "As a work of art, Portrait of America marks a dynamic contemporary moment in the intersection of culture and technology."