THE RESCUING OF A FANTASY CLASSIC

A comprehensive and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the restoration process of a beloved piece of classic cinema.

This 40-minute documentary concentrates on the daunting technical gymnastics required when restoring 3-strip Cinerama—with bespoke efforts across each of the three panels—amounting to an eye-watering 420 minutes of footage in total. The original negatives of the film were heavily damaged, and the opening sequence was missing entirely and had to be restored from a black-and-white archival print. The documentary tackles the controversial subject of ‘fixes’ to the original film, such as correcting lighting issues, smoothing frames and touching up matte effects.

A captivating piece on the marvels of modern restoration, this will be engrossing for anyone with even a passing interest in film history.

This screening will be introduced by Dave Strohmaier & Randy Gitsch, Cinerama Inc.