Among many things, Sven talks about the "Windjammer" music group that he and the other guys were in, and they eventually got an RCA recording contract. Image by Richard Monk
The interview took place in February 2011 in Australia, where Sven has lived most of his career. Sven is working on a book about his adventures. Image by Richard Monk
"Windjammer" Progress Update
The film "Windjammer" was hugely successful in 1958-60 almost all over the world. Largely unseen since the original release, the "lost" film about a Norwegian school ship, has undergone a digital remastering process for theatrical presentation and DVD/Blu-ray release.
We hope that "Windjammer" will come out on DVD & Blu-ray sometime this fall [2011]. We are still working on the DVD extras, audio commentary, behind the scenes photo galleries. This remastering is not exactly a "restoration," as the original negative film elements were in very bad repair and some were even missing. However it was an international effort with the help of the Swedish Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute and some interested private parties around the world and in the States including myself and my producer Randy Gitsch. We also had to perform miracles with very little funding so it became a labor of love for us. "Windjammer" is sort of considered a "lost film" and was filmed in a special process called Cinemiracle that used 3 strips of film and three projectors that was always shown on large curved Todd-AO type screens. It is very beloved by the baby boomer generation and anyone who has a fascination with sailing ships.
Our remastering was accomplished with a very rare one of a kind print that was located at the Swedish Film Institute. This widescreen anamorphic print was badly faded to a pinkish color and somewhat grainy. We employed some unique color restoration techniques and many other digital tricks to get the color back and then also restore the special 7-channel surround sound track.