From a just received press release:

The New York Times and Emerging Pictures, the New York-based digital cinema network, will for the first time present “indieWIRE: Undiscovered Gems” as an eight-month-long film series. Based on indieWIRE’s annual list of the top 15 films from major festivals around the world that have yet to find a theatrical distributor, the series is being presented in association with the California Film Institute. The series kicks off in late April with Jem Cohen’s acclaimed feature Chain.

With support from Sundance Channel, an audience prize competition will provide the winning filmmaker a cash award of $50,000, theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles and at least five other U.S. cities during 2007, as well as an exclusive broadcast on Sundance Channel.

Using Emerging’s digital technology, the partnership will bring one film per month from indieWIRE’s annual list to theaters in a minimum of 11 cities, including New York City, Tucson, AZ; San Rafael, CA; Wilmington, DE; Ft. Lauderdale and Lake Worth, FL; Martha’s Vineyard, MA; Lincoln NE; Buffalo, NY; Tulsa, OK; and Scranton, PA.