Movie News/Local Events: VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS

AUSTIN – Russian director Victor Kossakovsky’s kaleidoscopic documentary VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS juxtaposes tranquil landscapes of Argentina with the clamor of Shanghai – two of eight “antipodes” explored in this beautifully rendered world-spanning film.

• Saturday, May 4 at 4:00 PM at Alamo Drafthouse Village

• Sunday, May 5 at 1:00 PM at Alamo Drafthouse Village

The film’s runtime is 108 minutes.

G-DOG, the first film in the Docurama series, has two remaining screenings this week: this Saturday, April 27 at 4:00 PM at Alamo Drafthouse Village (2700 West Anderson Lane) and Sunday, April 28 at 1:00 PM at Alamo Drafthouse Village.

The theatrical release of VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS in 15 U.S. markets during the week of April 29 is the second film in Cinedigm’s (NASDAQ: CIDM) new DOCURAMA multi-platform film brand and inaugural series of national theatrical screening events. The DOCURAMA film series is attracting national attention for its unique series that is bringing 7 award-winning documentary films in 7 weeks, from April 22 through June 16.

Film critic Christopher Campbell wrote at Movies.com that the “wonderfully mind blowing” film “will literally have you seeing things in a new way.”

VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it was an opening night film. The film screened in the U.S. in 2012 at SXSW Film, won the Cinematic Vision Award at the AFI’s Silverdocs (now AFI Docs) and received the True Vision Award at the True/False Film Festival.

What is the shortest route between Entre Ríos in Argentina and the Chinese metropolis Shanghai? Simply a straight line through the center of the earth, since the two places are antipodes: they are located diametrically opposite to each other on the earth’s surface.

During his visits to four such antipodal pairs, Kossakovsky captured images that turn our view of the world upside down. A beautiful, peaceful sunset in Entre Ríos is contrasted with the bustling streets in rainy Shanghai. People who live in a wasteland are connected to people dwelling next to a volcano. Landscapes whose splendor touches the soul are juxtaposed with the clamor of a vast city. These antipodes seem mythically connected, somehow united by their oppositeness.

In partnership with GE FOCUS FORWARD-Short Films, Big Ideas, a curatorial program inspired by GE’s vision of innovative people being the catalyst for world change, DOCURAMA will present a 3-minute short documentary with each feature film that has a complementary theme or subject matter. Remote Area Medical, from filmmakers Jeff Reichert & Farihah Zaman, will be shown before every screening of VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS. Over three days in April 2012, Remote Area Medical, the pioneers of “no-cost” health care clinics, treated nearly 2000 patients on the infield of Bristol, Tennessee’s massive NASCAR speedway. Every screening of VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS will be followed by a pre-taped Q&A with the director.