Broadsword Calling Danny Boy!
Schauburg's 17. Todd-AO 70mm festival, Karlsruhe, Germany

"Broadsword Calling Danny Boy!" Such goes a famous line from Brian G. Hutton's "Agenten Sterben Einsam". As part of our "Vintage Classics" we pay tribute to this MGM production from 1969. That means it is faded into the "official festival color", pink and in German language, but it is an AUTHENTIC 70mm premiere print in 6-channel magnetic sound. Don't miss it! This is one that has to be appreciated.

At the other end of the scale, Christopher Nolan's hyper-serious "Oppenheimer"  premiered in July in 70mm. During the course of several interviews, the Director explained why he shot it in 65mm IMAX to tell his story. His answer is essentially:

"IMAX film is the highest quality imaging format ever devised. What that gives you is access to the audiences’ perception. I refer to it as 3D without the glasses. You just look at a crystal-clear sharp image. We wanted to try and take that format and use it as a way to have the screen disappear, and just be living in that space with these characters. Feeling what they are feeling. Experiencing what they are experiencing."

Of course we cannot show IMAX at the Schauburg, and instead we settle for the widely-shown and director approved 5-perf standard version, which fits the curved Schauburg screen perfectly. 70mm truly is a "Window on the World", and the success of "Oppenheimer" proves it and we are proud to show it. If you have seen it - or not seen it yet, you can judge for yourself and decide if it feels like "3D without the glasses".

For the 17th Todd-AO Festival we invite you on an incredible 3-day journey into storytelling, vision and sound on the grandest scale. A bucket of 10 films about about war, science fiction, horror, success and humanity's struggle with nature and the modern world. The festival is not complete without a lecture, and we are delighted to welcome Orla Nielsen, DFF. Orla will give a talk about the adventure he experienced on the set of "Tenet" with the Danish Magellan 65 camera. With plenty of pictures, demo film clips and some surprises, it is a must for the fans of 70mm. We are equally excited to continue our 70mm relationship with Director Paul Thomas Anderson. We host the European premiere of "Boogie Nights" in spectacular Panavision 70 - one of his first films and which was recently blown up to 70mm for the first time. Due to popular demand, Director Jordan Peele's "NOPE" was also re-released in 70mm following the initial digital US premiere. We are proud to host this as our second European premiere this weekend.

From Egypt to New Mexico, from interstellar space to the Austrian Alps and from Paris to Hollywood - we have it all in the splendour of 70mm. Beyond the directors already mentioned, I think we can assure a great weekend with additional works from James Cameron, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Kenneth Branagh, William Wyler and John Carpenter. This festival faithfully attempts to present the films "the old fashioned" way, with an introductory ceremonial gong at the beginning, curtains opening to reveal the screen, and with authentic 70mm film prints. A BIG weekend, on the BIG curved screen. Welcome to the seventeenth edition of the Todd-AO Festival at the amazing Schauburg Cinerama.

The festival is also about socialising between the shows and refreshing yourself with a cup of coffee or a Hoepfner Brau in the bar. The Schauburg's Biergarten is ideal. Simply enjoy some fresh air, the good company and talk about the movie which you have just seen. To quote Major von Hapen in "Where Eages Dare": "SIT DOWN!", but we will not ask for "Your papers" - only your ticket.

Thomas Hauerslev
in70mm.com