FIRST RUN FEATURES to Release 'dancing across borders'
December 17th 2009 03:41
Feature Documentary by Anne Bass about a Young Man's Journey from Cambodia to the Ballet Stage in America
First Run Features has acquired all North American rights to the new feature documentary Dancing Across Borders, which chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of Sokvannara Sar who was discovered in Cambodia and brought to the ballet stage in America. First Run will release the film beginning March 26 in New York, with other major cities to follow.
On a trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia, in 2000, Anne Bass came across sixteen-year-old Sokvannara (Sy) Sar performing in a temple with a traditional Cambodian dance group. His amazing natural charm and grace as a dancer moved her immensely; even after returning to America the memory of Sy's performance and remarkable abilities lingered.
A longtime patron of dance in the U.S., Bass decided to offer this young man the opportunity to leave his home and follow a dream that he could not yet have fully imagined. She asked the World Monuments Fund, who helped sponsor Sy's dance troupe, to contact his teacher and parents to find out if Sy would like to visit New York where Anne could introduce Sy to the world of ballet and see if he had an interest in auditioning for the prestigious School of American Ballet (SAB).
Sy arrived in New York at sixteen without any classical ballet training and was initially turned down at SAB, and so after studying privately with legendary ballet teacher, Olga Kostritzky, the head of the boys program at SAB, Sy auditioned and was accepted to study at SAB.
When Sy arrived at SAB most of his peers had already been training for at least six years. Sy studied at SAB for five years and when he finished his training there Peter Boal, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and one of Sy's instructors at SAB, became the artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) and invited Sy to join the PNB School's Professional Division, where he eventually became an apprentice and joined the corps de ballet. Shortly after joining PNB Sy also entered and reached the semi finals of the International Ballet Competition at Varna, Bulgaria, the world's oldest and most prestigious ballet competition.
What unfolds in Dancing Across Borders is a tentative negotiation between Sy and the world of American ballet and culture-from the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the halls of New York's School of American Ballet to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.
The film follows Sy's training and development as a dancer through footage that was shot originally to inform his parents of his progress in America, and it offers a remarkable behind-the-scenes look into the world of ballet. At its heart, Dancing Across Borders is an
extraordinary story of growth, adaptation, and belonging as well as of the development of talent and the mastery of an art form.
Dancing Across Borders features a remarkable real-life cast of performers and others involved in the arts, including Olga Kostritzky, Jock Soto, Peter Boal, Philip Glass and more.
Director/Producer Anne Bass has a long history of involvement in the arts and Cambodia. She has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committees of the Fort Worth Ballet (where she founded the company's ballet school), the New York City Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. She is also on the board of the American Friends of the Paris Opera Ballet.
In Cambodia, Bass is Vice President of the Board of the Center for Khmer Studies. In 2006, working with the Center and with The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library, Bass created the Khmer Dance Project which will film and document the dance of the Khmer people as it is practiced and remembered by Khmer dancers today. Bass is a graduate of Vassar College and is a former contributing editor of Vogue and House and Garden. In addition, she was a member of President Reagan's Task Force on the Arts. Dancing Across Borders is her first film.
DANCING ACROSS BORDERS
88 minutes, color, 2009
Directed by Anne Bass
Producers Anne Bass, Catherine Tatge
Editors Girish Bhargava, Mark Sutton
Directors of Photography Bob Elfstrom, Anthony Forma, Tom Hurwitz
USA National Playdates
New York - To be announced
Opens March 26
Los Angeles, CA - Landmark Nuart
Opens April 16
San Francisco, CA - Landmark Lumiere
Opens April 30
Berkeley, CA - Landmark Shattuck
Opens April 30
Philadelphia - Landmark Ritz at Bourse
Opens April/May TBD
Seattle, WA - Landmark Varsity
Opens April/May TBD
Washington DC - Landmark E Street
Opens April/May TBD
Boston, MA - Landmark Kendall
Opens April/May TBD
More about the film:
www.dancingacrossborders.net
First Run Features has acquired all North American rights to the new feature documentary Dancing Across Borders, which chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of Sokvannara Sar who was discovered in Cambodia and brought to the ballet stage in America. First Run will release the film beginning March 26 in New York, with other major cities to follow.
On a trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia, in 2000, Anne Bass came across sixteen-year-old Sokvannara (Sy) Sar performing in a temple with a traditional Cambodian dance group. His amazing natural charm and grace as a dancer moved her immensely; even after returning to America the memory of Sy's performance and remarkable abilities lingered.
A longtime patron of dance in the U.S., Bass decided to offer this young man the opportunity to leave his home and follow a dream that he could not yet have fully imagined. She asked the World Monuments Fund, who helped sponsor Sy's dance troupe, to contact his teacher and parents to find out if Sy would like to visit New York where Anne could introduce Sy to the world of ballet and see if he had an interest in auditioning for the prestigious School of American Ballet (SAB).
Sy arrived in New York at sixteen without any classical ballet training and was initially turned down at SAB, and so after studying privately with legendary ballet teacher, Olga Kostritzky, the head of the boys program at SAB, Sy auditioned and was accepted to study at SAB.
When Sy arrived at SAB most of his peers had already been training for at least six years. Sy studied at SAB for five years and when he finished his training there Peter Boal, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and one of Sy's instructors at SAB, became the artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) and invited Sy to join the PNB School's Professional Division, where he eventually became an apprentice and joined the corps de ballet. Shortly after joining PNB Sy also entered and reached the semi finals of the International Ballet Competition at Varna, Bulgaria, the world's oldest and most prestigious ballet competition.
Sy and Phillip Glass_photo_Erin Baiano
What unfolds in Dancing Across Borders is a tentative negotiation between Sy and the world of American ballet and culture-from the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the halls of New York's School of American Ballet to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.
The film follows Sy's training and development as a dancer through footage that was shot originally to inform his parents of his progress in America, and it offers a remarkable behind-the-scenes look into the world of ballet. At its heart, Dancing Across Borders is an
extraordinary story of growth, adaptation, and belonging as well as of the development of talent and the mastery of an art form.
Dancing Across Borders features a remarkable real-life cast of performers and others involved in the arts, including Olga Kostritzky, Jock Soto, Peter Boal, Philip Glass and more.
Director/Producer Anne Bass has a long history of involvement in the arts and Cambodia. She has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committees of the Fort Worth Ballet (where she founded the company's ballet school), the New York City Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. She is also on the board of the American Friends of the Paris Opera Ballet.
In Cambodia, Bass is Vice President of the Board of the Center for Khmer Studies. In 2006, working with the Center and with The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library, Bass created the Khmer Dance Project which will film and document the dance of the Khmer people as it is practiced and remembered by Khmer dancers today. Bass is a graduate of Vassar College and is a former contributing editor of Vogue and House and Garden. In addition, she was a member of President Reagan's Task Force on the Arts. Dancing Across Borders is her first film.
DANCING ACROSS BORDERS
88 minutes, color, 2009
Directed by Anne Bass
Producers Anne Bass, Catherine Tatge
Editors Girish Bhargava, Mark Sutton
Directors of Photography Bob Elfstrom, Anthony Forma, Tom Hurwitz
USA National Playdates
New York - To be announced
Opens March 26
Los Angeles, CA - Landmark Nuart
Opens April 16
San Francisco, CA - Landmark Lumiere
Opens April 30
Berkeley, CA - Landmark Shattuck
Opens April 30
Philadelphia - Landmark Ritz at Bourse
Opens April/May TBD
Seattle, WA - Landmark Varsity
Opens April/May TBD
Washington DC - Landmark E Street
Opens April/May TBD
Boston, MA - Landmark Kendall
Opens April/May TBD
More about the film:
www.dancingacrossborders.net
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