Ovation to Provide the US Television Premiere of the Wonderful World of Albert Kahn
The Nine-Part Series Debuts as Part of "Framed," a Weeklong Photography-Themed Programming Event
Santa Monica, CA – April 20, 2010 -- With a click of the shutter, a moment is captured forever. Beginning May 2, Ovation, the only television network dedicated to art and contemporary culture, pays tribute to the art of photography in the weeklong programming event, “Framed,” beginning May 2 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT with the US Premiere of The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn.The acclaimed BBC documentary series The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn reaches U.S. television audiences for the first time on Ovation. This extraordinary, nine-part series explores the most important collection of early color photographs. In the early 1900s, French industrialist and financier Albert Kahn embarked on an ambitious project to create a color photographic record of, and for, the people of the world. Kahn believed that he could use the new Autochrome process--the world’s first practical system of taking color photographs-- to promote cross-cultural understanding. Kahn’s vast and legendary collection of Autochromes remained relatively unheard of until a century after he launched his project.
Episode highlights of the US Premiere of The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn include:
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: A VISION OF THE WORLD -
US PREMIERE, Sunday, May 2 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT. Albert Kahn sent photographers out to document the world’s people and cultures in the early part of the 20th century. The immense project brought in over 72,000 color photographs and 100 hours of film footage. This first episode explores how his 22 –yearlong project was originally conceived, the cameras that were used and the photographic techniques that documented the world of the early to mid 1900s. Viewers will learn who Albert Kahn was, and why this project was so close to his heart.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: MEN OF THE WORLD –
US PREMERIE, Sunday, May 2 at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. This episode chronicles Kahn’s visits to the United States, Japan and China in 1908. This vast undertaking was the onset of Kahn’s project to document life around the world as it was known at the time.
TO WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: EUROPE ON THE BRINK - US PREMIERE, Monday, May 3 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT. In this episode, we’ll follow the travels of Kahn’s commissioned photographer Auguste Léon. In 1910, he set out to survey life in Italy and the Balkans. It was the calm before the storm, as only a few short months would bring on the event that sparked World War I.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: THE SOLDIER’S STORY – US PREMIERE, Monday, May 3 at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. As World War I held most of Europe in its grip, Kahn sent several photographers to the site of the first major battle at Verdun. There, they captured the rudimentary medical procedures of the time and documented the absolute devastation that was wrought. The battle lasted from 1914-1918 and four years worth of photographs spoke to the absolute horrors of war.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: THE CIVILIANS’ STORY – US PREMIERE, Tuesday, May 4 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT. In this episode, we’ll see the film from Kahn’s archives that documented French civilian life during the war. Showing how the war personally affected French citizenry, this film visits the farms that were left to women and the elderly to tend to as the men fought in the war, surveys the crumbling churches that were destroyed, and even captures action at the front lines of the battle.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: EUROPE: AFTER THE FIRE – US PREMIERE, Tuesday, May 4 at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. As Kahn traveled to Versailles, he witnessed and photographed the famous treaty signing that ended the war. He also captured images of the aftermath of war, including the mass grave diggings, the rebuilding of monuments, and the incursion of foreign workers who settled and found work in the void that was left during the war.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: MIDDLE EAST - THE BIRTH OF
NATIONS – US PREMIERE, Wednesday, May 5 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT. With World War I over, Kahn chose to focus his attentions on another brewing conflict. This episode tracks the travels of Kahn's team of photographers into Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine during a time when borderlines were being redrawn, sparking the possible beginnings of conflict.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: FAR EAST - EXPEDITIONS TO
EMPIRES – US PREMIERE, Wednesday, May 5 at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. Albert Kahn's photographs of Asia showcased a world of culture that few in Europe had ever witnessed. During the late 1920s, while traveling through the continent, Kahn's photos enabled the rest of Europe to travel vicariously to Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and India through depictions of exotic Maharajas, opulent mosques, inspirational native dances and rousing cultural celebrations.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ALBERT KAHN: THE END OF A WORLD – US PREMIERE, Thursday, May 6 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT. At the end of his project in 1922, Kahn commissioned Lucien Le Saint to photograph the parts of the world to which his team had not yet traveled. This led Le Saint to Newfoundland, where he spent time documenting the lives of cod fisherman, and then to Morocco and Tunisia, where French soldiers were now living and commiserating with prostitutes.
Also premiering during “Framed” is Eve Arnold in Retrospect. Airing Sunday, May 2 at 10:00 pm ET/7:00 pm PT, this documentary is tribute to the life and career of Eve Arnold, whose emotive and evocative work began at a young age after taking an internship where she documented the brewing fashion scene in Harlem. This pictorial distinguished her from the rest, and it didn’t take long before Arnold became respected in her own right. Her lens has caught the most notable men and women in the world at the time, including Malcolm X, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, and her most famous subject Marilyn Monroe, with whom she shared a very special relationship. In preparation for a retrospective gallery showing, Arnold reflects on her vast body of work and returns to her hometown to illustrate where her passion for photography first began.
About Ovation:
Ovation is the only multi-platform network devoted to art and contemporary culture. The network creates and curates one-of-a-kind programming about all the art people enjoy most, from the popular to the avant-garde and everything in between. The channel reaches a national audience of 40 million households through carriage on DirecTV (channel 274), Dish Network (channel 157) and on cable and telco systems in major markets across the country. Ovation’s programming is also available on video on demand (in both standard and high definition) in the US. Ovation’s popular website (http://www.OvationTV.com) is a dynamic experience, featuring information about local and national happenings in the art world, as well as a vibrant community of artists who have uploaded over 100,000 pieces of original art.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Patricia Frith Marketing (for Ovation)
Tel: +1 818 876-0480
Email: pfmarketing@roadrunner.com
Ovation TV Press Website: www.OvationTV.com/media
Michelle Orsi (for Ovation)
Three.Sixty Marketing & Communications
Tel: +1 310 418-6430
Email: michelle@360-comm.com
