Sundance hit “Beyond the Ocean” by Tony Pemberton – named one of Variety’s “Ten Directors to Watch” – is now available in a new DVD release by Indiedocs.com. It includes a bonus, never-before-seen short film starring Parker Posey.

Beyond the Ocean, a new film by Tony Pemberton premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was a pionneer in VOD distribution on filmfestivals.com online streaming platform, has been released on DVD with never-before-seen bonus short Description of a Struggle starring Parker Posey.

Pemberton, who was named one of Variety’s Top Ten Directors to Watch, spent three years filming Beyond the Ocean on a bare-bones budget in Moscow and New York City. Shooting an independent film in two countries offered Pemberton countless creative challenges. His Russian mother-in-law feigned illness and wept hysterically before Ukrainian border guards would allow 30 cans of cheap film stock into Russia, and Pemberton had to hire a posse of ex-KGB agents to retrieve footage and equipment being held for ransom by an angry DP.

Pemberton spent two years in Moscow raising money to process and print his film before he finally completed post-production. Then, although Beyond the Ocean was a hit on the festival circuit, it languished for several more years with two now-defunct distributors before finally being released on DVD by Indiedocs.com.

The story of a young, pregnant Russian émigré trying to carve out a life for herself in New York City’s underground trip-hop dance scene, Beyond the Ocean juxtaposes cinematographic styles and cultures as it moves between present-day New York City and the 1980s Russian countryside. Hailed as an “international discovery” in the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival and called “cinematic poetry” by the Sundance Film Festival’s Trevor Groth, the film has screened at international festivals including the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Moscow Film Festival, Sao Paulo Film Festival, Northampton Film Festival, and at the Kino Museum in Moscow, America’s Whitney Museum and the Anthology Film Archives.

Pemberton shot bonus short film Description of a Struggle in 1993, before Parker Posey became an international star with Superman Returns, The House of Yes and Waiting for Guffman. Now – for the first time – this award-winning short film will be available to fans of Posey’s quirky comic genius. According to Pemberton, who studied with Posey at SUNY Purchase, “Description of a Struggle was an extension of our relationship at the time...we kind of combined our own stories with Kafka and the Masochistic classic Venus in Furs.”

Beyond the Ocean was produced in Russia by Ursula Wolschlager and in New York by Isen Robbins. It stars Dasha Volga and features Tatiana Kamina, Rik Nagel, and Tatyana Kuznetsova, with music by Christian Fennesz, DJ Wally, We, DJ Olive, LLOOP, and Solar X.

Description of a Struggle, starring Parker Posey, features Chris Marstall, Douglas Stearns, Cinematography by Marco North, and original music by Fitz Patton. It premiered in the 1995 Humbolt International Film Festival.

Beyond the Ocean, released on DVD by Go East Film / Indiedocs.com, can be ordered in numerous online outlets. It is also available through NetFlix.com and other retail outlets including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.