THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE to Premiere at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Santa Barbara, Calif. -- Have you seen "The Ten Commandments" with Charlton Heston? Did you know that in 1923 DeMille made a silent version of "The Ten Commandments?" He shot the film in Santa Barbara County, California, about 150 miles north of Hollywood, and built a huge City of the Pharaoh set. Designed by Paul Iribe, the "father of Art Deco," it was the largest set in motion picture history. When filming wrapped, the city mysteriously vanished.

In 1982 Peter Brosnan was sitting in a bar and someone told him that there were ancient Egyptian Sphinxes buried somewhere in the California Dunes. It sparked his imagination and he embarked on what turned out to be a thirty year battle to prove the existence of these Sphinxes and the discovery of the Lost City.

Thirty-three years in the making, THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE is a documentary film that chronicles this amazing story. The film answers the question: Why did DeMille remake "The Ten Commandments?" It also explores the pathos of a man, Peter Brosnan, who walked away from this project three times in frustration, only to be called back a fourth time. It is an iconic tale of a reluctant hero, who finally surrenders to his destiny and accepts that he was chosen to follow this quest and tell this story.

"Santa Barbara is the ideal venue for our world premiere, since the story happened here!" said writer/director Peter Brosnan.

The film was produced by Daniel J. Coplan. Francesca Judge Silva served as the executive producer.Kelvin Jones was the still photographer. The cinematographers were Alessandro Gentile, Bruce Cardozo, I-Li Chen, and Richard Eberhardt, with time lapse photography by Michael DeLavallade. Steve Bauman wrote the original score and the film was edited by George Artope.

Watch the official trailer below!

For more information about the festival, screening times, and tickets, to go www.sbiff.org.