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Husband of Kidnapped Colombian Presidential Candidate takes his Campaign to the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah Juan Carlos Lecompte participated to the world premiere of the documentary film MISSING PEACE, presented at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film chronicles the extraordinary story of his wife Ingrid Betancourt's life, her kidnapping, and her family's desperate quest to free her and keep her campaign alive. The film beat out stiff competition including 16 fiction and documentary films to claim the Audience Award for Best Feature. In accepting the award, Bruce stated, "we acknowledge the help and support of so many who have made this possible. This award is a great honor, but we cannot truly celebrate until Ingrid is returned." (IndieWIRE) (Calendar Live) (SlamDance.com) Lecompte feels that President Alvaro Uribe will listen to the United States government. "I hope this film will bring attention in the United States to the struggle of Ingrid and of all Colombians. I hope the American people will learn about Ingrid and write to their congress members so that the United States will put political pressure on Uribe to push for her release." Since arriving in Park City, UT on Sunday, January 19, 2003 Lecompte has hit the publicity circuit hard. He has made appearances on CNN, Telemundo, and given many interviews with regional and local media in English and Spanish. In February 2002, Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas as she campaigned for President of Colombia. And for the past eleven months, her husband Juan Carlos Lecompte has carried a poster of his wife throughout Colombia and Europe, pleading for help from foreign governments. Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce were in Colombia immediately after the kidnapping, and again for the presidential elections in May 2002, when Ingrid appeared in Bogotá's Plaza de Bolivar as a cardboard torso, held in the arms of Lecompte and Ingrid's mother, Yolanda Pulecio. Lecompte, a political novice when he met Betancourt in 1994, has rallied his wife's cause in her absence, meeting with the highest levels of government in Colombia and around the world in order to free her. "We felt that by inviting Juan Carlos to Slamdance, we could provide the audience firsthand information about Ingrid's situation," says Hayes, who with Bruce and Lecompte will take part in discussions following the film's two scheduled screenings at the Slamdance Film Festival. MISSING PEACE: A true story of love, politics and kidnapping in Colombia World Premiere: Mon., January 20, 2003, 6:00 p.m. Juan Carlos Lecompte and the directors of MISSING PEACE will be available for interviews in English or Spanish before or during the festival (contact info. above). Contact: Karin Hayes: 202.491.7010 (karinh113@aol.com)
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