Sune L. Thomsen and the Challenges of 70mm |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written and photographed by: Thomas Hauerslev | Date: 26.01.2023 + 01.02.2023 |
 Sune
L Thomsen and his Gentofte Kino located just outside central Copenhagen.
Hosting the GIFF 70 70mm festival. The third edition of Gentofte International Film Festival, or "GIFF 70", is about to begin, and in70mm.com was on the spot to have a 4 min & 19 sec chat about the preparations with Sune L Thomsen, a few days before festival start. Interview was updated with a few words from Sune after the last show Sunday evening Sune, this is your third 70mm festival GIFF 70. How are preparations coming along for this year’s GIFF 70? It has been a big challenge this year, because we want to do something special with GIFF in Denmark and provide some new films which haven't been shown in 70mm in Denmark before. It's a big deal to do this. How has audience and media interest been so far? Very interested actually, because when you play a film like "Lawrence of Arabia" a lot of people are interested in coming. Not only for the 70mm, but also for the movie. But additionally we are presenting some premieres like “The Wild Bunch”, for the first time in Denmark in 70mm. We also have “The Bear” (“L’Ours”) for the first time in 70mm in Denmark, and finally "Ready Player One" again for the first time in 70mm in Denmark. It's should be quite interesting for people to see. What are the biggest challenges organizing GIFF 70? This year, as many suspect, the increasing transportation costs are really tough. It is so expensive to ship these prints around. They are hard to come by, and expensive to move. And this year we received a 70mm print of "The Wild Bunch" - which turned out to be in German language. Of course, we were looking for a English print, so that was a huge challenge to find a replacement print in such a short time. We finally succeed, but that was the biggest problem this year to find another print, plus pay to transport two full prints. |
More in 70mm reading: GIFF 70, Gentofte International Film Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark PDF: GIFF 70, Gentofte International Film Festival, 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark The Greatest 70mm Race Sune L Thomsen about GIFF 7O @ the Gentofte Kino, Denmark 70mm Retro - Festivals and Screenings Now showing in 70mm in a theatre near you! Projectionist Jan Niebuhr, Denmark Internet link: gentoftekino.dk |
 Sune
L Thomsen with French Director Jean-Jacques Annaud, who presented "The Bear"
Saturday evening.Award winning French Director Jean-Jacques Annaud is introducing his own movie "The Bear" - how did that come about? Last year I met Jean-Jacques by coincidence. He was in Denmark promoting "Notre-Dame on Fire" / "Notre-Dame brűle" (2022). We talked and he fell in love with this old-school cinema. Since we do have an original projection booth and 70mm, he remarked "I made my first three movies in 70mm. “Quest for Fire”, "The Name of the Rose" and "The Bear". Why don't you just borrow my 70mm print of "The Bear" he said. I replied, if that was at all possible? He said "Sure. Let me have a look into it". He did, and now we get to show it, but it was also pure luck and coincidence. What are the most enjoyable aspects for you with 70mm at the Kino? First of all it gives us an edge. We provide a service which nearly nobody else in Denmark can provide. It is also a kind of a trademark for the cinema to be able to show real film. We think that it is important. We have loads of new [digital] movies, but being able to show actual film is just a treat. How are the ticket sales? They are moderate, I must say. This year we are right in the middle of the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship, and Denmark is a favourite to win for the third time in a row. Handball is a big thing in Denmark. Of a population of 5.8 million people, 1,4 - 1,5 million are following the games live on television. Amazing numbers, and they [the audience] are not going to the cinemas so much, and that is going to affect us for sure. But I am very confident we are going to have some great numbers for most of the films, however. "Lawrence of Arabia" is that selling well? "Lawrence" is the main attraction along with "The Bear" of course. Both titles are selling well, no doubt about it. But also "The Wild Bunch" is interesting for people who really want to see the film in a proper cinema from the old days. Obviously, a film like "Ready Player One" which wasn't really designed for 70 sells a few tickets too. It is one of those titles where people say, "Oh we just saw this, is it any good in 70?". It is good in 70, but it is not the biggest draw we have. |
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Sunday Afterthoughts |
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 The
beautiful Gentofte Kino in Copenhagen, Denmark. Opened in 1938, and with
70mm since 2021. Image: Thomas HauerslevWhat was the greatest drama the audience did not know about? Ha, ha - oh my God. We had a malfunction of the rewind table! All of a sudden it just did not work. We could not rewind anything, could not move prints etc. I mean, that was a bit of a drama. Our projectionist Alan saved the day by finding a replacement table somewhere across town. Secondly, we got the prints very, very late. If the audience knew how late some of these prints arrived, they'd probably doubt the films would be shown at all. Those were the biggest dramas, otherwise everything else worked fine and ran really smooth. What are your thoughts about the weekend? Did GIFF 70 2023 live up to your expectations? Absolutely. We broke records with Jean-Jacques Annaud's "The Bear", and then again, the following day with "Lawrence of Arabia". Ticket sales went up compared to last year. Of course, having the GIFF 70 in May for the last two years due to Covid restrictions (and thereby less tickets sold), it was a major plus to have GIFF 70 back in the original time slot of late January. What kind of reactions have you gotten from the audience? The audience has been very satisfied, particularly with "The Bear". The magnetic [6-track Dolby] sound for "The Bear" was immense and intense, and of course with "Lawrence of Arabia", in a very nice almost brand-new print please the audience. When is the next GIFF 70 taking place, and what can the audience expect to see? GIFF 70 is already planned for the last weekend of January 2024. We have not chosen the program yet, but we have a lot of things cooking, and hopefully we will have one or two guest speakers and a director. It's going to be exciting! • Go to GIFF 70, Gentofte International Film Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark • Go to Flyer: GIFF 70, Gentofte International Film Festival, 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark • Go to gallery GIFF 70 in pictures, 2023 |
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