The Global Film Initiative and Virgin America, the California-based airline, are partnering to release the Initiative's critically acclaimed traveling film series—Global Lens—on Virgin America's interactive, in-flight entertainment system, RED™. Films from the series are now available on demand on all Virgin America flights.
"Global Lens is a one-of-a-kind film series. Virgin America is a one-of-a-kind airline. Put the two together and you have an in-flight experience that has no comparison," says Santhosh Daniel, Director of Programs at the Global Film Initiative.The Global Lens series is a collection of dynamic feature-length film from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East that can be seen in more than 35 cities across the United States and in Canada. On Virgin America, the Global Film Initiative brings this diverse and pioneering collection to new audiences via RED™—Virgin America's touch-screen personal in-flight entertainment system.
"Virgin America is committed to offering guests the best and most eclectic entertainment choices in the sky," says Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing at Virgin America. "The partnership with Global Lens allows us to offer guests an in-flight film festival of independently produced films at every seatback."
The inaugural release of Global Lens on RED™ features South African comedic hit Bunny Chow (dir. John Barker) and Argentine drama Kept and Dreamless (dir. Vera Fogwill and Martin DeSalvo), followed by Indonesian critic's favorite Opera Jawa (dir. Garin Nugroho) and Iranian culinary tour-de-force The Fish Fall in Love (dir. Ali Raffi). In March, Virgin America will also release Global Lens 2009, the sixth installment of the Initiative's renowned series. One of the most acclaimed lineups yet, Global Lens 2009 includes three North American premieres, Macedonia's official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, and prize-winning features fresh from the top festivals worldwide.As part of the new partnership, the Global Film Initiative and Virgin America are also launching Wing It! a hip, new quarterly arts and culture contest for high school and college-age students. Winners of each contest will receive a ticket to anywhere Virgin America flies, and will also be featured on the Initiative's website. Wing It! is a creative expansion of the Initiative's Education Program and will go live Spring 2009. Contest details are available here.
Cross-published at Twitch.
