[sumo] Fwd: SUMO EAST AND WEST

[dmelton@banzuke.com]

Hi all,

I know this has been mentioned on the list recently,
but here's a more "official" announcement.

- Dave



----- Forwarded message from Sara N Pellegrini 
<snp201@nyu.edu> -----
    Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 12:31:32 -0400
    From: Sara N Pellegrini <snp201@nyu.edu>
Reply-To: Sara N Pellegrini <snp201@nyu.edu>
 Subject: SUMO EAST AND WEST
      To: dmelton@banzuke.com

Hello, 
Our Sumo documentary is airing on PBS in the United States 
on various dates.  We would love it if you could post our 
announcement on your website or pass it on to anyone who 
might be interested in checking it out.  Thanks!
Sara Pellegrini
Announcement follows
**********************************************************

Check out the award-winning documentary SUMO EAST AND WEST 
that the Austin Chronicle calls:

"... an engrossing exploration on the meaning of tradition 
and the inevitability of change. Behind the camera, 
Pearlstein managed to look past the spectacle to capture 
the elegance at the heart of the game.  Under her 
direction, every belly-slap and thousand-pound tumble 
becomes a moment of beauty and grace."

SUMO EAST AND WEST will have its Broadcast Premiere on PBS' 
Independent Lens Series on Tuesday, June 8th at 9pm in 
Hawaii (*Please check local listings, times and dates may 
vary widely from city to city)

See our PBS trailer:

http://www.itvs.org/search/preview.htm?showID=825

For more information or to purchase a copy, please visit:
www.sumoeastandwest.com

PRAISE FOR ?SUMO EAST AND WEST?

"When (Pearlstein) moves her camera in close on the 
combatants-- including the side-of-beef celebrity sumo 
wrestler Manny Yarbrough -- you can see the muscle and 
sinew at play on the bodies of these men, who resemble 
giant toddlers. There is an actual culture clash here 
because the movie centers on the invasion of the sport by 
Americans, particularly Hawaiians, like the seemingly 
gentle Wayne Vierra, who is determined to break through the 
pro-Japanese grip of the sport."
Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times

"Sure to please fest crowds, docu is already set for PBS 
airings but also has enough weight to throw around in the 
theatrical arena....Filmmakers Ferne Pearlstein and Robert 
Edwards display considerable sensitivity to the sport's 
near-holy status in Nippon culture, and are ideally 
positioned as Yank cineastes to connect with those 
outsiders who are transforming the sport by their very 
presence....Pearlstein's camera, granted unprecedented 
access in Japan, records the brutal rituals endured by 
rookies designed to test their physical and mental mettle 
for the intense competitions...brings the sport and 
personalities vividly alive.?
Variety
"Very impressively made. One of the sharpest photographed 
and edited feature docs I've seen lately, which is truly a 
pleasure (and rare)."
Sean Farnel, Programmer, Toronto Film Festival

"Pearlstein's experience shows with glorious effect...The 
film is beautifully photographed. I have rarely seen 
documentaries that look so visually appealing as this one. 
The bright, bustling, neon cityscape of modern Tokyo is 
perfectly juxtaposed against the sometimes calm and 
sometimes explosive images that make up a Sumotori's life. 
These images are the ones that linger in your mind long 
after the film is finished."
Ka Leo O Hawaii News

?Bizarre, fascinating....A witty film that even the most 
reverent sumo fan can appreciate.?
The Forward

"This is one I?ve been wanting to see since I missed 
it...at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Very fun and 
enlightening film."
Film Threat

"You like big butts and you cannot lie? Husband-and-wife 
team Ferne Pearlstein and Robert Edwards got 'em by the 
boatload, as they enter the lumbering world of sumo to 
investigate how international participation -- particularly 
by Hawaiians -- is changing the sport....the film blends 
interviews, competition footage, and fascinating archival 
material, such as a sumo match in a U.S. internment camp 
during World War II. The result is an engrossing 
exploration on the meaning of tradition and the 
inevitability of change. Behind the camera, Pearlstein 
managed to look past the grotesque and the spectacle to 
capture the elegance at the heart of the game. Under her 
direction, every belly-slap, diaper-hitch, and thousand-
pound tumble becomes a moment of beauty and grace."
The Aus
tin Chronicle

"A piercing look inside sumo's legacy."
Richard von Busack, Metroactive

"This visually arresting film examines not only the history 
of the ancient art of Sumo wrestling in Japan, where it is 
viewed as a cultural treasure, but also its future 
worldwide."
IFP / Los Angeles Film Festival

"A stirring, in-depth look at this often closed world. This 
moving film is not a movie just for hardcore sumo 
fans....can make you fall in love with sumo."
ADCC News

 ?Beautifully shot on 16mm by Pearlstein, SUMO EAST AND 
WEST is a poignant portrait of a culture trying to hold on 
to something sacred at all costs. Japan has long been the 
cultural trendsetter of the East, and Pearlstein digs deep 
to give the viewer a comprehensive look at the changes 
affecting not just the ancient sport of sumo but Japan as a 
whole.?
Mary Kerr, Programming Director, SilverDocs: AFI/Discovery 
Channel Documentary Festival



----- End forwarded message -----



[EndPost by dmelton@banzuke.com]