SUNDANCE CHANNEL PRESENTS CLASSIC WORLD CINEMA FROM THE CRITERION COLLECTION

HOME VISION ENTERTAINMENT DISTRIBUTES TITLES ON VHS/DVD

Sundance Channel will partner with The Criterion Collection, the preeminent home entertainment resource for classic and restored films, to present landmark works of world cinema in Sundance Channel Presents Classic World Cinema from The Criterion Collection.  This special thirteen-week series launches Thursday, June 7^th at 9:00 p.m., with a different title airing every Thursday night. Included in the series are works by renowned directors such as Jean Renoir, Roman Polanski, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini.  The program launches on June 7 at 9pm with L'Avventura  (Italy, 1960), Michelangelo Antonioni's meditation on spiritual and moral emptiness set in motion by the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy woman during a yachting trip.

Each film is preceded by Sundance Channel’s original program Conversations in World Cinema, which becomes a weekly series on Thursday June 7 at 8:30 p.m. (past guests have included Liv Ullmann, Faithless; Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and Ed Harris, Pollock).

The thirteen films airing as part of Classic World Cinema were jointly selected by Sundance Channel and The Criterion Collection, and represent a cross-section of essential cinema, from revolutionary milestones and bona fide masterpieces to internationally beloved hits and lesser-known titles by master filmmakers.   Spanning five decades of artistic daring and excellence, each installment of Classic World Cinema epitomizes film’s power to delight, transport and inspire.

 “These magnificent films were groundbreaking in their time; airing them reinforces Sundance Channel’s commitment to innovative and challenging cinema both past and present,” said Liz Manne, Executive Vice President of Programming and Marketing, Sundance Channel.  “We are also delighted to highlight the work of The Criterion Collection, a company that loves film as much as we do, and that shares our commitment to preserving the filmmakers’ vision.”

Peter Becker, President of The Criterion Collection said "Once again Sundance Channel is demonstrating its commitment to independent film art by airing this impressive slate of masterworks from The Criterion Collection. Each film selected is a touchstone of world cinema no lover of film will want to miss."

The titles included in "Sundance Channel Presents Classic World Cinema from The Criterion Collection" are as follows in chronological order:

L'Avventura (The Adventure) (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1960) -Antonioni's ravishing meditation on spiritual and moral emptiness is set in motion by the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy woman during a yachting trip. 6/7, 9pm  (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION 6/19)

High and Low (Tengoku To Jigoku) (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1963) – The legendary Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a ruthless kidnapper in Kurosawa’s exemplary film noir, adapted from Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom.

6/14, 9pm  (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

Mr. Hulot's Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot) (Jacques Tati, France, 1953) – Director, co-writer and star Tati created one of cinema’s most beloved characters with this magical comedy about a hapless bachelor’s seaside vacation. 6/21, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION) Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, Russia, 1966) - Tarkovsky’s epic masterpiece is a sweeping medieval tale about Russia’s greatest icon painter. 6/28, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION 4/24)

Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) (Henri-Georges Clouzot, France, 1953) - An American oil company enlists four tough drifters for a high-paying suicide mission: transporting explosives across the rough terrain of Central America. 7/5, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

Wild Strawberries (Smultronstallet) (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1957) - An elderly physician, about to receive an honorary degree, is prompted by a dream and by circumstance to revisit key moments in his life. 7/12,9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION coming 2001)

Knife in the Water (Noz w Wodzie) (Roman Polanski, Poland, 1962) – Polanski’s brilliant, blackly comic first feature follows a couple whose boating weekend becomes an exercise in tension after they pick up an enigmatic young hitchhiker. 7/19, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION)

Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d’un Poete) (Jean Cocteau, France, 1930) – Cocteau’s dreamlike first film stretches the medium to its limits in an effort to evoke the creative process. 7/26, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet)  (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1957) – A knight returning from the Crusades tries to outwit Death in Bergman’s stunning allegory of man’s apocalyptic search for meaning. 8/2, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

Cleo from 5 to 7 (Cleo de 5 a 7) (Agnès Varda, France, 1961) - Visionary of the French New Wave, Varda captures the atmosphere of Paris in the 60s with this portrait of a singer searching for answers as she awaits the results of a biopsy for cancer. 8/9,       9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

Nights of Cabiria (Le Notti de Cabiria) (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1957) – Oscar® winner for Best Foreign Language Film, this haunting masterpiece stars the great Giulietta Masina as a naive prostitute searching for true love in the seediest sections of Rome. 8/16, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (Jean Renoir, France, 1938) – A moving drama about a group of World War I POW’s trying to escape from a German prison camp, many consider this the greatest antiwar film ever made. 8/23, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

Seven Samurai (Shichi-Nin No Samurai) (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1954) - A desperate village hires a group of mercenary samurai to protect it from marauders in this crown jewel of Japanese cinema. 8/30, 9pm (VHS HOME VISION/DVD CRITERION)

The program Conversations in World Cinema is hosted by Richard Peña, Chair of the Selection Committee of the New York Film Festival and Program Director of The Film Society of Lincoln Center.  Each half-hour episode of Conversations in World Cinema includes three main sections: an introduction to the filmmaker’s work, a personal reflection by the filmmaker on his or her work and country of origin, and a conversation with the filmmaker in front of a studio audience, including questions from the audience.  As of June 7 the program becomes a weekly series.   Previous guests have included Mike Leigh, Jane Campion, Atom Egoyan, and Claire Denis.

Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel brings television viewers daring and engaging feature films, shorts, documentaries, world cinema and animation, shown uncut and with no commercials.  Through its original programs, Sundance Channel connects viewers with filmmakers, the creative process, and the world of independent film.  Launched in 1996, Sundance Channel is a venture between Robert Redford, Showtime Networks Inc., and Universal Studios.  Sundance Channel operates independently of the non-profit Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance mission of supporting independent artists and providing them with wider opportunities to present their work to audiences.  Sundance Channel's website address is www.sundancechannel.com.             

The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them on DVD in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-wining, original supplements.  Each film in the collection is presented uncut, in its original aspect ratio, as its maker intended it to be seen.  The company’s supplements enable viewers to appreciate Criterion films in context, through audio commentaries by filmmakers and scholars, restored director's cuts, deleted scenes, shooting scripts, early shorts, storyboards.  To date, more than 35 filmmakers have made the Director's Approved library of laserdiscs and DVDs the most significant archive of contemporary filmmaking available to the home viewer.

Home Vision Entertainment is the premiere distributor of foreign and classic feature films on video in North America. Our audience is the discriminating viewer, who is interested in experiencing and collecting quality films in cassette and DVD. While the foundation of the collection is the classics, Home Vision Entertainment has identified many contemporary films that will stand the test of time. The company's insistence on the highest standards of restoration, subtitling, and print quality make these highly collectable tapes and discs the choice of film collectors in the North American market. Home Vision Entertainment’s new website address is www.homevision.com.