Bradford International Film Festival Widescreen Weekend

There are some superb film events planned this Widescreen Weekend as part of the Bradford International Film Festival, as well as the Leeds Young Film Festival.  Full details below:

BRADFORD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL   in partnership with www.bradfordfilmfestival.org.uk PRESENTS WIDESCREEN WEEKEND Widescreen Weekend 2014 once again celebrates the joys of large format filmmaking in its many guises!   We welcome you to a weekend celebrating the anniversary of VistaVision, the joys of 70mm screenings and talks from the likes of Professor Sir Christopher Frayling. Below are some of the highlights from this year's programme - we hope to see you soon! The Way We Were (PG) The original tagline for this '70s classic movie was “some memories last forever”, and more than forty years later it still holds true. Set across three decades (1930s – 1950s) Streisand and Redford have an impetuous, fiery and strained relationship where the two never quite see eye-to-eye. Redford is the laid-back, well-to-do guy who succeeds as a writer, whilst Streisand is the struggling political activist with an over-zealous dedication to her causes. Search For Paradise (U) When this picture premiered in New York in 1957, Cinerama ad copy confidently reminded all comers that, “Imitations come and go, but only Cinerama puts you in the Picture”. After all, 3D, the studio backed alternative to Cinerama, had all but died by then. Search for Paradise was the third and last of producer and commentator Lowell Thomas’ Cinerama travelogues who now felt assured of his command of the 3-camera medium. After a stop in Ceylon, our on-camera host leads us to “The Roof of the World”, which he likens upfront to a Shangri-La and the film culminates in a dangerous ride on the monstrous Indus River. EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF THE 2014 DIGITAL RE-MASTER For A Few Dollars More + An Illustrated Talk by Sir Christopher Frayling The acknowledged expert on all things Leone, Christopher Frayling delves into the mindset of a director who brought a new look and completely fresh approach to the traditional Hollywood western. This style of ‘cowboys and outlaws’ was radically different from what had come before. Leone utilised over-the-top violence with sombre or wicked humour and his work spurned a new term in cinema vocabulary – the Spaghetti Western – due to its European roots.Numerous spaghetti westerns utilised the widescreen Techniscope format to dazzling effect (including the film which follows this event) and Christopher Frayling will cover the use of this and how the look and style created a different dynamic to the conventional western. City Heat (15) Another first for Widescreen Weekend as City Heat celebrates its 30th birthday with a very rare 70mm screening. A troubled production, including the departure of Blake Edwards as the original director, sees Eastwood and Reynolds having to work together to solve the murder of Reynold’s partner and cut down on the mobster racketeering of the 1930s in Kansas City. This should have been a guaranteed bankable hit at the box office, but it missed the mark by a wide margin. The film offers a strange mixture of violence and comedy, and never seems quite sure of how to mix the two successfully. However this 70mm print serves up City Heat at its finest, leaving you to decide on its success or failure. 30th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING  ALSO SCREENING Leeds Young Film Festival Leeds Young Film Festival concludes with an exciting day of activities. From a Minecraft Hack Workshop through to a Closing Gala screening of The King and The Mockingbird, Minicine's International Panorama and a festival schowcase, Leeds Young Film Festival is sure to inspire and dazzle the entire family once more!

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