American Vantage's Wellspring Places 5 Films on First Major Top 10 Film List of 2004.

NEW YORK -- American Vantage Media Corp. (NASDAQ: AVCS)

--AVM's films garner over 10% of total mentions in the prestigious Art Forum's Best Films of the Year awards

--Year-end recognitions and awards viewed as enhancing home entertainment values

Wellspring Media Inc., a subsidiary of American Vantage Media Corp. ("AVMC"), announced today that it had placed five films and received a total of seven mentions for the Best Films of the Year in the prestigious Art Forum's annual top 10 films of the year lists, the first major lists by critics to come out this year.

"We're pleased with this strong showing in Art Forum's lists. This proves to us that we are building a library of acclaimed films that will have timeless value," stated Marie-Therese Guirgis, head of acquisitions at Wellspring.

The Art Forum's list was compiled by some of the most respected film critics in the country, including John Waters, James Quandt, Chrissie Iles, Jonathan Romney and Amy Taubin.

The films nominated are currently in theatrical release and scheduled for home video release in the first half of 2005.

Stephen K. Bannon, chief executive officer of American Vantage Media Corp., commented, "Year-end award nominations and top 10 lists are a critical component that differentiates independent films in the consumer's mind. We believe these types of awards drive home entertainment value in the retail marketplace. Prominent awards, such as these, enhance and sustain long-term interest in the films. These films will be the foundation for an anticipated continued strong 2005 in home entertainment."

Ryan Werner, head of theatrical distribution at Wellspring, stated, "It's been quite a year for us. It's not often you can say you released films by Godard in the same year as introducing a landmark film such as "Tarnation." These are films that people are going to continue to refer to and discuss as important moments in the history of film."

"Tarnation," Jonathan Caouette's landmark documentary that was executive produced by Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunting") and John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch"), made two of the five lists. It was hailed as "The Best Movie of the Year. A truly sensational debut," by John Waters. Critic Jonathan Romney called it "A moving, sometimes weirdly entertaining tour de force." The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and also screened in Cannes, Toronto and the New York Film Festival. It won the Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Best Emerging Filmmaker from the International Documentary Association and is nominated for Best Documentary at the IFP Gotham Awards and the IFP Independent Spirit Awards.

"Notre Musique," Jean Luc Godard's meditation on war, received two nods also. Critics James Quandt and Chrissie Iles had it on their lists. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and also screened in Toronto and New York Film Festivals. FIPRESCI, the international film critics organization, named it the Best Film of the Year.

The other films that made the list include "The Brown Bunny" (a film by Vincent Gallo), "Goodbye Dragon Inn" (a film by Tsai Ming-liang) and a video release by Wellspring, "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" (a film by George Butler).

American Vantage Cos.' (the parent company of AVMC) Chief Executive Officer Ronald J. Tassinari, stated, "The continuing recognition of Wellspring's quality film acquisitions is a testament to the discerning eye and specialized creative talents provided by Ryan Werner and Marie-Therese Guirgis."

Wellspring is one of the leading distributors of important films by major filmmakers in the country. The company currently has in release Jonathan Caouette's critically acclaimed landmark documentary "Tarnation," which was executive produced by Gus Van Sant and John Cameron Mitchell; and Cedric Kahn's thriller "Red Lights," starring Carole Bouquet and Jean-Pierre Darroussin; and Jean-Luc Godard's "Notre Musique." 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 more than 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).

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "anticipates," "believes," "can," "continue," "could," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "should," or "will" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Such statements and all phases of American Vantage Cos.' operations are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including overall economic conditions and other factors and uncertainties as are identified in American Vantage Cos.' Form 10-KSB for the year ended July 31, 2003, Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended Oct. 31, 2003, transition Form 10-QSB for the two months ended Dec. 31, 2003, Forms 8-K and Forms 8-K/As (Dates of Forms 8-K and 8-K/A Reports: Dec. 31, 2003, Feb. 4, 2004, June 2, 2004 and Aug. 11, 2004) and Forms 10-QSB for the quarters ended June 30, 2004 and Sept. 30, 2004. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. American Vantage Cos.' actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements may be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release.