Spike Lee's PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE Premieres Tonight At The IFC Center

PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE, directed by Spike Lee, will have its theatrical release in New York City tonight, August 21.

Spike Lee's film of singer/songwriter Stew's award-winning rock musical premieres Friday, 8/21 at the IFC Center, with Lee, the show's cast and creators Stew & Heidi in person at the 6:15 & 9:20 shows!

Stew and Heidi will also appear at the Saturday at 6:15 (at a show with a live musical performance) & 9:20; and Sunday at the 3:30 show of what the New York Times calls "a sprawling work of performance art...wonderful."

To watch a behind-the-scenes clip from the film, click here.

For more information, visit www.ifccenter.com.

Following its New York City release, PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE will be available nationwide on video on demand beginning August 26.

PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE is a tour-de-force of creative collaboration and inspiration. In this breathtaking film, Spike Lee captures the highly-acclaimed Broadway musical show written by singer/songwriter Stew (with music cowritten by his creative partner, Heidi Rodewald). The original show, winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, was universally applauded for its originality, its deep emotional resonance, and its powerful, often high-octane, music. The resulting work unites revelatory theater with superb filmmaking, raising the whole to a dizzying plateau of emotional engagement.

PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young black man who leaves behind his middle-class, church-ruled upbringing in mid-1970s LA to travel to Europe in search of his artistic and personal identity, or what he calls "the real." Picaresque misadventures with sex, drugs, politics, and art await him in far-out Amsterdam and hyper-militant Berlin. His eyes are opened ever wider, even revealing what he left behind. An absolutely superb cast, ably supported by sparing (but pitch-perfect) costumes, design, and stagecraft, bring to life the emotionally charged story with its astounding original music, narrated and overseen by Stew himself. Lee's multicamera coverage of the event (including backstage scenes) involves the audience in not only the text but the electricity of the ensemble's onstage adventure.

How to watch PASSING STRANGE THE MOVIE nationwide on demand on cable:

BRIGHT HOUSE: Movies on Demand > IFC In Theaters or Sundance Selects

CABLEVISION: Movies On Demand > Independent Films > Sundance Selects

COMCAST: Channel 1>Movies & Events > Same Day as Theaters > Sundance Selects

COX: Channel 1 > Movies On Demand > Sundance Selects

TIME WARNER: Movies On Demand> IFC In Theaters or Sundance Selects

Running Time: 135 Minutes / Rating: Not Yet Rated. Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival 2009 / Tribeca Film Festival 2009.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.