The Tribeca Film Festival releases daily videos to help viewers get an idea of what happens during their screenings. For those of you who couldn’t make the TFF premier of Transcendent Man, check out the brief promo video below that stars director Barry Ptolemy. It doesn’t cover the entire depth of the film, but it’s still a pretty cool chance to hear what Ptolemy thinks of his work.
Most of the video is comprised of clips from the film, which focuses on Ray Kurzweil and his quest to discuss the Singularity with almost anyone. You get to see a short segment of the part of the film with William Shatner, which was a favorite of mine when I saw Transcendent Man at TFF. Celebrities abound (Stevie Wonder, Mic Jagger and others) but its really Ptolemy that makes this clip worth watching.
Barry Ptolemy is fairly new to the documentary world, Transcendent Man is his first full length. So it was interesting to hear his approach: follow Kurzweil around until he trusts you. Simple but effective. Apparently his angle on Kurzweil’s beliefs (is he a prophet or a nut?) arose dynamically while filming the movie. We knew some of that from our earlier interview with Barry Ptolemy. While it’s still too early to know when Transcendent Man will hit wide release, I’m looking forward to the eventual DVD premiere. Hopefully it will include more interviews with Ptolemy, a copy of the TFF discussion panel, and lots more behind-the-scenes information. Hint, Hint.
