Transcendent Man, a documentary film on the life and controversial ideas of Ray Kurzweil, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 25, 2009.

Filmmakers Barry and Felicia Ptolemy (Ptolemaic Productions) documented Kurzweil’s life for two years in 25 cities in five countries, as he explored the social and philosophical implications of the coming profound changes and the potential threats they pose to human civilization in presentations and dialogues with 22 noted luminaries such as Colin Powell, Peter Diamandis, Dean Kamen, William Shatner, Stevie Wonder, and Kevin Warwick.

“My ideas [in the film] challenge people’s most basic assumptions about life, death, and what it means to be human,” said Kurzweil. In his post-biological world, there will be no clear distinction between human and machine and real reality and virtual reality, human aging and illness will be reversed, world hunger and poverty will be solved, and we will ultimately cure death, he says, revealing in the film that he intends to bring back his father, composer Fredric Kurzweil.

The Tuesday, April 28 screening was followed by a panel discussion with Director Barry Ptolemy and Ray Kurzweil, moderated by NPR and ABC correspondent Robert Krulwich.

Tribeca is one of the four leading film festivals in the world. Only 24 movies (12 documentaries and 12 narrative movies) are selected to premiere and compete at Tribeca, out of more than 2,200 movies submitted for consideration. Transcendent Man was one of only two documentaries discussed by the New York Times in its coverage of the upcoming Tribeca festival.

Original theme music is by noted American composer Philip Glass.

Related: read the press release here