Widescreen Weekend festival
A Bond Girl, a European premiere, and a celebration of widescreen cinema featuring rare and iconic films from across four decades, take centre stage at the National Media Museum’s Widescreen Weekend, from 13 – 16 October 2016.
Special guest Jenny Hanley, who appeared in the 1969 Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, will be interviewed on stage (Sunday, 16 October), giving her insider’s story of filming on set of one of cinema’s most successful franchises. Following her interview, Jenny, who later became the presenter of children’s TV series Magpie and a radio show host, will introduce a 4k digitally re-mastered version of OHMSS featuring George Lazenby’s sole outing as cinema’s best-known spy.
Further highlights include a rare print for the opening night film (Thursday, 13 October) - The Agony and the Ecstasy(1965) introduced by film historian and Widescreen Weekend guest curator Sir Christopher Frayling. Starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison, and made by acclaimed British director Carol Reed, The Agony and the Ecstasy dramatizes Michelangelo’s (Heston) fractious relationship with Pope Julius II (Harrison) as he paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling against the backdrop of war.
The Widescreen Weekend has been supported by the BFI with National Lottery Funding as part of its audience development activities.
Sir Christopher Frayling said: "The National Media Museum’s Widescreen Weekend has for many years screened classic movies as they should be screened - big and wide. This year, the festival has tracked down some rarities – The Agony and the Ecstasy, Cinerama films, Hitchcock's Vertigo in 70 mm - and is also screening some old favourites. In black-and-white widescreen, there's The Innocents, the spookiest ghost story ever filmed - in Cinemascope with smudged edges.
“This festival is a must for serious filmgoers. Forget about watching films on phones and computer screens and even HD televisions - there's no substitute for WIDESCREEN."
Regular star of Widescreen Weekend - the National Media Museum’s curved Cinerama screen - hosts the European premiere of the digitally restored version of The Golden Head(1964), introduced by the singer and actor Jess Conrad who stars in the film. Also showing in the only public Cinerama theatre outside the USA, is a digital restoration of Cinerama’s Russian Adventure (1966) plus an original print of the film that showcased the technology in the 1950s - This Is Cinerama (1952).
The festival will provide thrills, scares, comedy and music with large format versions of a range of classics. In addition to theBritish gothic ghost story The Innocents(1961), the Weekend includes a 30th anniversary screening of Aliens (1986); the original Ghostbusters (1984); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), produced by Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli; and the film that currently tops Sight & Sound’s ‘50 Greatest Films of All Time’ poll - Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal Vertigo (1958) in 70mm. Brian Hannan, author of The Making of The Magnificent Seven: Behind the Scenes of the Pivotal Westernwill be making an appearance to introduce that film’s sequel The Return of the Seven.
As well as celebrating classic films, the festival looks to the future of cinema technology and presentation. BKSTS, International Moving Image Society returns as sponsor of the Student Widescreen Film of the Year award on Thursday 13 October, promoting widescreen aesthetics and production values to students attending film schools around the world. A series of new short films will be screened as part of the ceremony, with the prize awarded by Sir Christopher Frayling.
And on Saturday, 15 October, a panel discussion on Virtual Reality (VR) and the future of immersive cinema technology is accompanied by demos and films, including the Emmy Award-winning Notes on Blindness (2016).
Full Widescreen Weekend passes, giving unlimited access to all four days of the event, are on sale until 23 September 2016 (£110 each, concessions available). Tickets for individual screenings and events will be on sale from 26 September.