Discovery's HD Theater Premieres LIGHTSCAPES, Episode One Opens The Doors Of Sacred Japan To American Audiences In A Whole New Light

SILVER SPRING, Md., June 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Discovery's HD Theater announced today the debut of its new experiential TV program, LIGHTSCAPES. The premiere episode reveals in an entirely new light the 2000 year-old Grand Ise Shrine, Japan's most sacred of all Shinto sites.

LIGHTSCAPES features the work of renowned Japanese media artist, Akira Hasegawa, and his unique "D-K" (Digital-Kakejiku) art form that projects large-scale, abstract-painting-like images onto famous architectural structures and natural landscapes to create familiar yet entirely new visual experiences. Director and co-creator Peter H. Chang says, " Lightscapes is a unique television experience that seeks to capture not only the spirit of a place, but also the elemental intersection of humans and nature, art and technology, architecture and cinematography. In this first episode, Akira Hasegawa shines his transformative light on a mystical shrine to create a sublimely kaleidoscopic and meditative 'lightscape.'"

The episode captures the re-opening and re-dedication ceremonies of Grand Ise Shrine's Uji Bridge on "Bunka no hi" – the Japanese national holiday that celebrates culture and the arts – and culminates with thousands of individuals crossing the bridge with candlelit red lanterns. Ise Shrine honored Hasegawa for dedicating Uji Bridge with the "Spirit of Light." "The premiere of Lightscapes, showing American audiences the sacred beauty of Ise Shrine, feels to me like opening the doors of a closed country to the world, once again," says Hasegawa.

"This Lightscapes episode not only brings a sacred Japanese landmark and renowned Japanese artist to American audiences," says Executive Producer and co-creator Christopher Frey. "It also crosses media and technology to create an entirely new television experience." Filmed in 4K HD with both real-time and time-lapse cinematography, LIGHTSCAPES draws inspiration from the highly acclaimed feature film, BARAKA, and the critically acclaimed HD Theater series, SUNRISE EARTH. " Lightscapes is a program that exemplifies the mission of HD Theater to provide visually compelling images to our viewers in the highest quality 1080i high definition technology available," said Robert S. Scanlon, VP Production and Development, HD Theater & Turbo Media, Discovery Communications, Inc.

LIGHTSCAPES is produced for HD Theater by Cinefugue Productions and Cross Media International. For more information and to access a downloadable EPK, please visit www.lightscapes.tv/press.html

About HD Theater:

The first 24-hour high-definition network in the U.S. to broadcast all of its content in brilliant 1080i and 5.1 digital surround sound, HD Theater offers compelling real-world and motorized content from a wide range of categories including adventure, technology, nature and world culture – all designed to provide viewers with the highest-quality television experience available. As one of the most widely-distributed high-definition networks available in the U.S., HD Theater brings its programming to life in a kaleidoscope of dazzling color, sound and sights.