FILM RESTORATION EXPERTS ATTEND ARRI ARCHIVE WORKSHOP
SYDNEY, 16 June 2016 – Once again, leading figures and technology providers from the world of film archiving and restoration have come together for ARRI’s Archive Workshop at the company headquarters in Munich.
In total, 165 restoration professionals travelled from 25 countries to attend the 2016 workshop. Nine exhibitors showcased the latest hardware and software for film restoration tasks in the ARRI studio, while 23 guest speakers gave 12 presentations in the ARRI cinema, sharing knowledge, discussing challenges and detailing case studies.
This year, a special focus was put on emerging topics such as coloured film in all its variants, reaching back as far as 1900, as well as classic video technology; presentations covered the digitisation of early colour processes, bacterial artefacts on film, hand repairs to nitrate stock, restoration of video material, unusual film formats, magnetic tape degradation and colour rendering via LED illumination.
Among the specific restoration projects cited by guest speakers were Veit Harlan’s Agfacolor films IMMENSEE and OPFERGANG (1942-1944), Georges Méliès’ JOAN OF ARC (1900), Werner Nekes’ ULIISSES (1980/1982), Heiner Carow’s DIE RUSSEN KOMMEN (1968/1987) and the classic soviet movie CHAPAEV (1934).
Technology showcased at the expo included current ARRISCAN archive options and a peek at future ARRI developments, Phoenix and Nucoda software from Digital Vision, FAST LTA’s Silent Brick Library Controller, Spider from Filmlager Unterföhring, DIAMANT restoration software from HS-ART, KEM Studiotechnik, Kodak’s P-200 film cleaning system, Sondor’s VERSA scanner and Blackmagic workflows from VISION2see.
Feedback from exhibitors and attendees was very positive. Among those who made comments at the close of the event were Matthias Rajmann and Claus Üblacker of Film Shift, who said: “Seeing the archive technology presentations, talking to manufacturers directly and seeing their products in the studio, as well as meeting and chatting with colleagues of so many provenances was inspiring and productive.”
The success of the event means that it will certainly continue into the future, with dates for the next workshop to be confirmed in due course.