American Vantage's Wellspring Gets Two IFP Spirit Award Nominations; 'Tarnation' Nominated for Best Documentary; 'Red Lights' Nominated for Best Foreign Film.

NEW YORK -- Wellspring, a division of American Vantage Media Corp., announced today that it has received two IFP Spirit Award nominations. Jonathan Caouette's "Tarnation" was nominated for Best Documentary and Cedric Kahn's "Red Lights" was nominated for Best Foreign Film. Both films are currently in theatrical release and will be released on DVD in early spring.

"Tarnation" is Jonathan Caouette's debut and is one of the most acclaimed films of the year. It is the only documentary this year to screen at the prestigious Sundance, Cannes, Toronto and New York Film Festivals. The film, which was originally made for a budget of $218, drew the attention of Academy Award(R) nominee Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunting") and John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch") who came aboard as executive producers. Roger Ebert proclaimed it, "A TRIUMPH! A film of remarkable power. One of the best documentaries of recent years." The film has also won the Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival and the IDA's Emerging Filmmaker Award this year. It is also nominated for the IFP Gotham Award for Best Documentary of the year.

"Red Lights" is Cedric Kahn's thriller based on the novel by Georges Simenon (creator of the Inspector Maigret series). The film stars Jean-Pierre Darroussin ("A Very Long Engagement") and Carole Bouquet. The film opened to rave reviews in August and is still in release. Stephen Holden in The New York Times called it, "A brilliant, sinister French thriller." Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times said "Red Lights" is "a taut, impeccably made thriller. A combination of 'The Lost Weekend' and 'The Lady Vanishes.'" The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and screened in Tribeca and Seattle Film Festivals where Cedric Kahn was featured as an Emerging Master.

Wellspring's head of theatrical, Ryan Werner, stated, "We are thrilled that the Independent Spirit Awards and the IFP have chosen to single out 'Red Lights' and 'Tarnation.' They are both perfect examples of work by filmmakers pushing convention and also crafting incredibly entertaining works of art."

Wellspring is one of the leading distributors of important films by major filmmakers in the country. In addition to "Tarnation," the company currently has in release Cedric Kahn's thriller "Red Lights," starring Carole Bouquet and Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Upcoming releases include Academy Award winner Jessica Yu's "In The Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger"; Todd Solondz's "Palindromes" starring Ellen Barkin, Stephen Adly-Guirgis and Jennifer Jason Leigh; and Anne Fontaine's "Nathalie" starring Emannuelle Beart, Fanny Ardant and Gerard Depardieu.

Past releases include some of the most acclaimed and successful arthouse releases of recent years such as "Russian Ark," hailed by Roger Ebert as "one of the most astonishing films ever made"; Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Ran"; "The Circle" by Jafar Panahi; "Yi Yi" by Edward Yang; "Under the Sand" by Francois Ozon; "Strayed" by Andre Techine; and Lorene Machado's "Notorious C.H.O." Wellspring has fostered the careers of some of the most important directors in world cinema today including Bruno Dumont ("Life of Jesus," "Humanite," "Twentynine Palms"), Alexander Sokurov ("Russian Ark," "Father and Son"), Jafar Panahi ("The Circle," "Crimson Gold"), Leos Carax ("Mauvais Sang," "Pola X"), Tsai Ming-liang ("What Time is It There?" "Goodbye Dragon Inn"), Olivier Assayas ("Les Destinees"), Claire Denis ("Friday Night"), Bahman Ghobadi ("Marooned in Iraq"), Liz Garbus ("Girlhood"), Marina de Van ("In My Skin") and Karim Ainouz ("Madame Sata"). Wellspring has also been committed to the theatrical re-release of classic films including the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Demy and Francois Truffaut.

Together, the Wellspring Home Video and Worldwide Sales libraries boast over 1,000 titles including major works by Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Luchino Visconti, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, the Taviani Brothers, Peter Greenaway, Jacques Demy, Akira Kurosawa, Pedro Almodovar, Michelangelo Antonioni and Lina Wertmuller among others.

Wellspring's Direct Response unit sells arthouse and specialty video/DVD titles via The Video Collection and the artfilm collection direct mail consumer catalogs and Web sites, www.videocollection.com and www.artfilmcollection.com.

Wellspring Media Inc. is a division of American Vantage Media Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Vantage Cos. (NASDAQ: AVCS).