Jaman.com, Inc., the leading online community for world cinema, and Tribeca Film Festival today announced the final lineup of films to premiere in the International Showcase hosted online at www.jaman.com during the 6th annual Tribeca Film Festival. Several full-length feature films screening in the International Showcase will be made available to a worldwide audience during a seven-day, online screening running simultaneously with the Festival. A complete catalogue of films and screening times is available at www.jaman.com/tribeca.
"The International Showcase is part of a partnership between Jaman and the Tribeca Film Festival to premiere international films from the Tribeca Film Festival online," said Gaurav Dhillon, CEO and founder of Jaman.com, Inc. "Fans of the Tribeca Film Festival from around the world will be able to view the showcase films on their computer or home entertainment system in better than DVD quality. In addition to discovering the Festival online, viewers will be able to use Jaman's social network for world cinema to connect and share their Tribeca experiences with other film enthusiasts."
While other festivals have used the internet to host trailers and shorts, the International Showcase brings selected international feature films showing at the Tribeca Film Festival to a worldwide audience via Jaman's unique technology and social network. The films highlighted in the International Showcase will also use Jaman to integrate the film's on-site premiere and marketing activities to create buzz for a worldwide audience of industry buyers and critics through the Internet.
"We are very excited about offering international filmmakers participating in the Tribeca Film Festival an expanded platform to share their work," said Jon Patricof, Chief Operating Officer of Tribeca Enterprises, parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival. "Our partnership with Jaman leverages the Internet to help level the playing field for international films to reach the widest possible audience."
The films available in the 2007 International Showcase include:
Between Heaven & Earth (Available for download Apr 27 - May 3)
2006, Netherlands. Directed By: Frank van den Engel, Masha Novikova
In the heart of the Eurasian continent, the ancient center of the world where the Silk Road connected China to Europe, the circus is a deeply rooted cultural phenomenon. This film focuses on two circus artists, whose lifelong friendship is affected by the differing political choices they make under the dictatorship in Uzbekistan. In Russian and Uzbek.
Razzle Dazzle World Premiere (Available for download Apr 28 - May 4)
2007, USA. Directed By: Ken Jacobs
A frequently returning TFF filmmaker presents the world premiere of his new experimental narrative opus. RAZZLE DAZZLE The Lost World confirms Jacobs' mastery of digital filmmaking in which he treats the image as a painterly canvas, exploring the depths of cubism and abstract expressionism from source material comprising turn-of-the-century stereopticon slides and an early Edison film.
A Guest of Life (Available for download Apr 28 - May 4)
2006, Hungary. Directed By: Tibor Szemzo
In 1819, a Transylvanian traveler set out on foot for Asia, convinced that there he would discover "the original Hungarians." What he found, at the foot of the Himalayas, introduced Tibet's rich culture and the practice of Buddhism to the world at large. A first film by one of Hungary's leading film composers, narrated in English by Susannah York.
The Tree (Available for download May 1 - 7)
2006, Argentina. Directed By: Gustavo Fontan
Returning to his childhood home, filmmaker Gustavo Fontan documents his parents' deliberations over a tree planted the day he was born. Simple questions that pass between them -- Is the tree dead? Should we cut it down?
-- -become meditations on history, memory, knowledge and the sensory symphony of daily life.
The Optimists (Available for download May 3 - 9)
2006, Serbia. Directed By: Goran Paskaljevic
One of Central Europe's leading filmmakers follows his unforgettable A Midwinter Night's Dream (2005 Tribeca Film Festival) with this new film whose five episodes conjure up a world where people have trouble distinguishing truth from illusions. Each segment reflects the motto of Voltaire's Candide: "Optimism is insisting everything is good, when everything is bad."
The Pelican (Available for download May 5 - 11)
1973, France. Directed By: Gerard Blain
Dubbed "the French James Dean" for his roles in films by Claude Chabrol (Le beau Serge, Les cousins) and Howard Hawks (Hatari), Gerard Blain's work as director never surfaced in the U.S. This is his masterpiece, a moving account of parental love and obsession, filmed in a rigorous style that recalls Bresson or Dreyer -- sans religion.
