Dominicans Honor Kris Kristofferson
with Shining Star Award

NORTH HOLLYWOOD – Golden Globe and Grammy Award recipient Kris Kristofferson received the first Shining Star Award along with two other honorees, at an awards dinner held Sunday, September 16, at the Beverly Garland Hotel.

The award was bestowed on the singer, songwriter and actor for  Shipwrecked in the 80s, his composition  featured a new documentary: Not Broken.  The new film tells the story of the horrific life and death ordeals and struggles some people faced at the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina.  Pluma Pictures, Inc., a film production company sponsored by Dominicans, produced the film and honored Kristofferson.

“We are very excited that Kris Kristofferson is the first recipient of the Shining Star Award,” said Dominican friar Armando P. Ibáñez, founder and CEO of Pluma Pictures, Inc.  Folk singer John Flynn and humanitarian Michael Paz are the other two honorees.

Pluma Pictures, Inc, was founded in 2001 to produce films with inherent universal
values, such as truth, peace, justice, beauty, and the importance of family and community. “In short, we’re producing movies about heroes and heroines,” Ibáñez said.

“We are not producing feel-good movies. We are producing films that speak of the harsh realities in our society, such as poverty, discrimination, greed and violence. Yet, in midst of it all are men and women struggling against these harsh realities for the good of all.”

In 1977, Kristofferson won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in A Star Is Born. His recent films include Fast Food Nation, The Wendell Baker Story, Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story, The Jacket, Silver City and Disappearances. Heralded as an artist’s artist, the three-time Grammy winner has recorded 26 albums, including with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.

Celebrated singer, songwriter and activist, John Flynn, and Michael Paz, music producer and humanitarian, are the two other honorees receiving the Shining Star Award. Kristofferson said that Flynn is one of the best writers he knows, while Ramblin’ Jack Elliot said that Flynn “is the John Lennon of the plasma generation.”

Paz, a resident of New Orleans, co-founded The Ruth Paz clinic, named after his mother, located in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, which provides healthcare to hundreds of children. He is currently in the midst of a fundraising campaign to help fund a new burn center that will open its doors by the end of this year.