Robert Altman’s 35mm roadshow reaches Bristol, Ciné Real teaches projection in Clapton, and a new 70mm print of La La Land gets its first outing in Los Angeles.
Peter J. Knight
MCP | Creative Labs
Bristol: a stop for Altman’s travelling print
The London dates for Short Cuts were in our October round-up. The useful news now is where the print goes next. Watershed, Bristol, screens it on Monday 16 November at 19:40 on 35mm, with an introduction from writer and Watershed box office team member Sven De Hondt. The cinema lists a 22:58 finish. That is worth knowing before you book a train home.
Watershed identifies this as an original print made available by Curzon and credits the Prince Charles Cinema and David Levy for helping get the tour on the road. Glasgow Film Theatre also has an official listing for the 35mm roadshow. In a film that keeps handing the story from one household to the next, there is something rather apt about the print being handed from one cinema to another.
For a venue, sharing a print makes a booking possible that might be difficult to arrange alone. It also makes the handover matter. Agree who checks the print on arrival, who sends it on and how the next projectionist finds out if anything needs attention. A tour can share that work as well as the cost, provided someone has agreed who does it.
Watershed: Bristol screening and booking · Prince Charles Cinema: roadshow background
London: learn to lace up in Clapton
Ciné Real’s projector workshop is at Ümit & Son, 35 Lower Clapton Road, London, on Wednesday 25 November, 19:00 to 21:30. Liam Saint-Pierre and Ümit Mesut will cover loading and handling film and lacing 16mm and 35mm projectors. The organiser lists the session at £33.22 including the booking fee.
It is one thing to follow a threading diagram and quite another to stand at the machine and work out where the film goes next. A practical evening gives people room to ask the basic questions and have another go. If you are trying to bring an old projector back into use, set aside time for that sort of practice before committing to a public show. An introductory session is a useful start; it takes time on the actual equipment to get comfortable running a screening.
Ciné Real: workshop details and booking
Belfast: two chances to see Phantom Thread on 35mm
Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast, has booked Phantom Thread on 35mm for Saturday 12 December at 20:40 and Wednesday 16 December at 14:50. Both shows are part of the cinema’s Christmas programme. It is a good excuse to look again at how much of Paul Thomas Anderson’s film happens in the space between a glance and a reply.
The afternoon date is a useful part of the booking. One late show can rule people out before they even look at the ticket price, particularly if they are relying on public transport or coming in from outside the city. When the print and staff are already booked, a second show at a different time gives another audience a chance to see it.
Queen’s Film Theatre: both 35mm showtimes and booking
Los Angeles: a new 70mm print for La La Land
American Cinematheque is marking the musical’s tenth anniversary at the Egyptian Theatre, Los Angeles, with 70mm screenings on Friday 13 November at 19:00 and Saturday 14 November at 19:30, both local time. It bills the Friday show as the first outing for a newly struck 70mm print.
There is a useful distinction between bringing an existing print out of storage and making one for an anniversary. The latter puts a new physical copy into use, though the listings don’t say where it goes after Los Angeles. For UK programmers, that is the question to put to the distributor before assuming the print will travel.
American Cinematheque: Friday screening · Saturday screening