MEL GIBSON - GIBSON MAKES PUBLIC APPEARANCE AT NATIVE AMERICAN SCREENINGS

MEL GIBSON has come out of hiding to promote his new movie APOCALYPTO. The movie-maker made his first public appearances since his drink driving arrest in July (06) at screenings of his new film in Oklahoma on Thursday (21SEP06) and Friday (22SEP06). Gibson insisted his appearance at screenings held at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby and Cameron University in Lawton be kept under wraps, and he refused to speak to press who discovered the MAD MAX star would be there. Local reporters were kept behind partitions as Gibson sat and watched the screenings with Native American groups. The actor's publicist JHANE MYERS says her client was "deeply touched by the warm reception he has received while in Oklahoma." Gibson, who co-wrote and directed Apocalypto, had reportedly pulled out of the screenings earlier last week (begs18SEP06).