KOCH LORBER FILMS ACQUIRES NEW PHILIP GLASS
DOCUMENTARY FROM “SHINE” DIRECTOR SCOTT HICKS
GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS
The Film, Which Debuted at the ‘07 Toronto International Film Festival, Will Open Theatrically In April ‘08
NEW YORK, NY (January 2008) – KOCH Lorber Films today announced the acquisition of GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS, an “engaging” and “entertaining ” new documentary from Academy Award® nominee Scott Hicks. The deal, which encompasses U.S. theatrical and home video distribution rights, was negotiated by Richard Lorber, president of KOCH Lorber Films and on behalf of Mandalay Motion Pictures and Independent Media, Andrew Herwitz, president of The Film Sales Company which is also handling all international rights on the Film. KOCH Lorber will premiere the film in April at NYC’s IFC Center to coincide with the revival of Glass’s opera “Satyagraha” at the Metropolitan Opera House.
A uniquely intimate portrait of the music icon, GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS explores the contemporary composer’s creative process in opera, concert and film, interwoven with candid scenes of his personal and spiritual life. Writer and director of the seven-time Academy Award®- nominated Shine, Hicks is known primarily for his fiction (Snow Falling On Cedars, No Reservations) but returns to his documentary roots with GLASS. His prior documentaries include the Emmy® Award-winning “Submarines: Sharks of Steel” and the Peabody Award®-winning television series about the Chinese Army, “The Great Wall of Iron.”
“If only I’d kept up my piano lessons as a child,” mused Hicks, “maybe I wouldn’t have such a thing about obsessive musicians! I am delighted to entrust Richard Lorber and his team to bring my portrait of this great artist to the American cinema audience.”
“Scott’s unique perspective and talents as a documentarian are on full display in this highly-engaging film,” said Lorber. “Philip Glass is one of contemporary music’s most innovative talents, and A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts delivers the enigmatic composer in a way we’ve never seen him before.”
In July 2005, filmmaker Scott Hicks started shooting a documentary about the composer Philip Glass to celebrate his 70th birthday in 2007. Over the next 18 months, he followed Glass across three continents - from his annual ride on the Coney Island “Cyclone” roller coaster, to the world premiere of his new opera in Germany and in performance with a didgeridoo virtuoso in Australia. Allowed unprecedented access to Glass’ working process, family life, spiritual teachers and long time collaborators, including Martin Scorsese, Errol Morris, Chuck Close, Christopher Hampton and others, Hicks gives audiences a remarkable mosaic portrait of one of the greatest - and at times controversial - artists of this or any era.
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