Film Scouts And The Internet Protocol Multicast Initiative Present Internet Premiere Of  The Film "Koyaanisqatsi" With Music By Philip Glass

10PM EST, 7PM PST, Sunday February 7th, 1999 

*Exclusive to this URLwire*, Film Scouts will be the only place to see the film Trailer and a special interview with the Director, starting February 1st, 1999 at http://www.filmscouts.com/rooms95/multimed/default.asp

Film Scouts LLC announced they will featurere the Internet premiere of the legendary film "Koyaanisqatsi", presented by Francis Ford Coppola, directed by Godfrey Reggio, with a score by Philip Glass. This event will be the most extensive use ever of Internet multicast technology, which provides the foundation for turning the Internet into a broadcast medium. 

Koyaanisqatsi is presented by Film Scouts in collaboration with the Internet Protocol Multicast Initiative (IPMI) as the centerpiece of the IP Multicast Summit, the premiere event for presenting advancements in IP multicast technology.  The screening brings together leaders in the area of IP multicast such as Broadcast.com, Stardust Forums, Hughes Network Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Real Networks, Sprint, UUNET, and Microsoft. 

"This is the perfect movie for the IP Multicast Summit," says Mayra Langdon Riesman, founder of Film Scouts LLC. "It harkens back to the silent film era in its lack of dialogue, and yet it shows the power of the medium and how well it can be merged with the Internet as a broadcast vehicle. This is really the merging of two worlds, the Internet and the motion picture; just as sight and sound merged to give us motion pictures, we are now seeing the beginning of a new medium on a new frontier." 

"It is great to finally see compelling entertainment content on IP multicast" says Philipp Hoschka, editor of the SMIL specification and Architecture Domain Lead of the Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C). "This will prove that IP Multicast is a viable technology for TV-like content on the Internet. I worked with Film Scouts during the Cannes Film Festival on IP multicast, and their dedication to this technology is exemplary in the industry. They are truly pioneers." 

Internationally recognized for award-winning coverage of the Cannes and Sundance film festivals and others from Toronto to Kazakhstan, Film Scouts presents an exciting lineup of festival coverage, original videos, film reviews and clips, and exclusive real-time Internet broadcasts. Film Scouts promises its web audience entertaining and informative film facts that they can't get anywhere else.  Pioneers in web video and IP multicasts starting in 1994, Film Scouts continues to provide exclusive interviews in its "Caught in the Web" series. The series provides an excellent archive of candid, refreshingly honest interviews with some of the most powerful and creative people working in cinema, including Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Liv Tyler, Sylvester Stallone, David Cronenberg, and Terry Gilliam.  Utilizing the web to its fullest potential, "Caught in the Web" is the ultimate source on the Internet for film-related interviews. 

The first Web site in the world to create original programming exclusively on the Internet, Film Scouts brought its viewers the first live broadcasts, IP multicasts, and, for their Cannes coverage, the first-ever sponsored net event. 

The movie will be available in audio and video. Low bandwidth Internet users will be able to receive audio and limited video. Higher bandwidth users will have the best video experience. The highest bandwidth (300K and/or above) will need to be connected to an Internet Service Provider that has Multicast enabled to enjoy the ultimate audio/video experience. Users can visit Film Scouts by pointing their browsers to http://www.filmscouts.com

More About The Film 
Koyaanisqatsi is an internationally acclaimed motion picture produced and directed by Godfrey Reggio, with an original music score by Philip Glass. With the assistance of Francis Ford Coppola, who is credited as presenter, the film's premiere caused a sensation at Radio City Music Hall in 1982 under the auspices of the New York Film Festival. The film went on to receive acclaim and recognition at festivals and public performances throughout the world. 

Koyaanisqatsi, based on the ancient Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance", is a totally unconventional work conceived by Reggio in 1974 as a non-verbal film that would integrate images, music, and ideas. To complete this monumental project, he had the support of the IRE, a non-profit foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the work of brilliant cinematographer Ron Fricke, and the musical contribution of Philip Glass, one of the foremost composers of our time.  This unique collaboration resulted in a motion picture that People Magazine called "an extraordinary visual tone poem... akin in visual impact to Lucas and Spielberg. Uncanny, original and fascinating." Gene Siskel on At the Movies said, "It's a wonderful film ...I was amazed and moved by it." And David Sterritt in The Christian Science Monitor said, "A rich and riveting guided Tour of our planet, conducted by a filmmaker of wit, intellect and compassion."  The film has been telecast nationally in the U.S. on the Public Broadcasting System's "Great-Performances" series, and also on national telecasts in many other countries around the world. It has been a sure sell-out when performed
with a live orchestra at New York's Lincoln Center and other major venues worldwide.