TRANSCENDENT MAN: The Life and Ideas of Ray Kurzweil
The compelling feature-length documentary film, by director Barry Ptolemy, chronicles the life and controversial ideas of luminary Ray Kurzweil. For more than three decades, inventor, futures, and New York Times best-selling author Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future.
In Transcendent Man, Ptolemy follows Kurzweil around the globe as he presents the daring arguments from his best-selling book, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. Kurzweil predicts that with the ever-accelerating rate of technological change, humanity is fast approaching an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and millions of times more powerful. This will be the dawning of a new civilization enabling us to transcend our biological limitations. In Kurzweil’s post-biological world, boundaries blur between human and machine, real and virtual. Human aging and illness are reversed, world hunger and poverty are solved, and we cure death.
Ptolemy explores the social and philosophical implications of these changes and the potential threats they pose to human civilization in dialogues with world leader Colin Powell; technologists Hugo deGaris, Peter Diamandis, Kevin Warwick, and Dean Kamen; journalist Kevin Kelly; actor William Shatner; and musician Stevie Wonder. Kurzweil maintains a radically optimistic view of the future while acknowledging new dangers. Award-winning American composer Philip Glass contributes original theme music that mirrors the depth and intensity of the film.
“ONE OF THE TOP TEN DOCUMENTARIES OF THE YEAR!”
-International Documentary Film Festival
ABOUT RAY KURZWEIL
Ray Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading futurists, with a twenty-five-year track record of accurate predictions. Called the “restless genius” by The Wall Street Journal and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes magazine, Kurzweil was selected as one of the top entrepreneurs by Inc. magazine, which described him as the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison.” Inventor of the first CCD flatbed scanner and many other technology firsts, Kurzweil was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and has received the National Medal of Technology, the Lemelson-MIT Prize (the world’s largest for innovation), 19 honorary doctorates and awards from three U.S. presidents.
For more information: http://www.kurzweilai.net/ray-kurzweil-bio
ABOUT BARRY PTOLEMY
At age 12, Barry Ptolemy was first inspired to create films by Steven Spielberg on the set of E.T., The Extra Terrestrial, where he worked and studied closely alongside the director for the duration of the production. After attending USC film school, Barry went on to direct and produce dozens of award-winning commercials and films. In 2006, his interest in the sciences led him to read Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near, upon which his first feature, Transcendent Man, is based. He also recently directed the commercial “We Are The World 25 For Haiti” with Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones, which aired during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Barry was recently hailed as one of the new “power directors” by Los Angeles Confidential Magazine. He lives in Southern California with his wife and their two children.
FILM FEATURED CAST
Tom Abate, Technology Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
Hugo deGaris, Professor of Mathematics and ComputerScience, Xiamen University
Peter Diamandis, Chairman, X-Prize Foundation
Neil Gershenfeld, Director, Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT University
Ben Goertzel, Inter-Disciplinary Scientist, Artificial Intelligence
William Hurlbut, Professor of Neuroscience, Stanford University
Dean Kamen, Inventor
Kevin Kelly, Co-Founder, Wired Magazine
Aaron Kleiner, Vice-Chairman, Kurzweil Technologies
Ray Kurzweil, Inventor
Sonya Kurzweil, Spouse
Hannah Kurzweil, Mother
Robert Metcalfe, Co-Inventor, Ethernet
Chuck Missler, Koinonia Institute / Technologist
Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State, United States
Steve Rabinowitz, College Friend
Philip Rosedale, Creator, Second Life
William Shatner, Actor
Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics, University of Reading
Stevie Wonder, Musician
ABOUT PTOLEMAIC PRODUCTIONS
Ptolemaic Productions was founded in 2006 by Barry and Felicia Ptolemy to create high-quality, entertaining film and television projects.
ABOUT THERAPY STUDIOS
Therapy Studios is an award-winning post-production company whose work spans commercial, feature, and online media. The West Los Angeles, CA-based company was founded in 2005 by Joe DiSanto, John Ramsay, Wren Waters, and Doobie White, who are the film’s Executive Producers. Therapy also provided editorial, design, and post-production for Transcendent Man.