For those who aren't familiar with the credos and history of "futurism," it was an artistic and social movement that blossomed in Italy during the early 1900s. Transcending the boundaries of all artistic media to encompass theater, painting, industrial design, music, literature and more, it placed an unusually strong emphasis on themes linked to the concept of the future, such as technology, speed, violence, and youth. Its impact on cinema was decidedly more limited, though at least two key motion pictures belonged to the futurist school: Thais (1917) and Vita Futurista (Futurist Life, 1916). The latter is particularly relevant; an omnibus film, it featured eleven independent segments by directors including Arnaldo Ginna and futurist founder F.T. Marinetti, with titles such as "How the Futurist Sleeps" and "How the Futurist Walks." The overriding theme involved a series of contrasts between the life of the "ordinary man" and the life of the "futurist man." Unfortunately, Vita Futurista has faded from existence; no prints are known to be extant. Perhaps as a result, it has attained a legendary reputation. In tribute to this lost masterpiece, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Manhattan performance biennial Performa, and Portland Green Cultural Projects teamed up with a series of groundbreaking contemporary artists to create a new Vita Futurista for the twenty-first century, entitled Futurist Life Redux. That work appears in full in this release. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi