(18 April 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Narrowstep the TV on the Internet company has announced that its proprietary technology system, telvOS has been chosen by Firecracker Media, a film and media company, to bring the best of East Asian cinema to the UK, US, Ireland and Australasia via a broadband channel called Firecrackertv.com.

Firecrackertv.com is a streaming online movie channel featuring Asian movies on demand and provides a catalogue from across Asia, featuring rediscovered gems to brand new movies in a range of genres from martial arts to anime to art-house, including films from cult Filipino grindhouse director Bobby A. Suarez and films such as Nuan from China, Monday Morning Glory from Malaysia, 2005, Post Revolutionary Era from China, 2004 and Love's Lone Flower from Taiwan.

The company notes that in recent years, the success of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Hero and Oldboy has made Asian films increasingly popular to mass audiences, but access to them has been limited. Firecracker launched the TV channel to make similar films and TV shows available to a wider audience, to complement their existing online and print magazine, and highlight the Firecracker Showcase, a UK-based, annual East Asian Film event.

Narrowstep chairman and CEO David McCourt says, "Firecracker TV is a brilliant example of how broadband television is working to give viewers control over what they watch and when they watch it. There is a very devoted group of people who love this genre of film and through our technology Firecracker is able to expand their distribution reach and bring the content to them."