Dungarpur

Christopher Nolan

Dunkirk

Chris

Sudeep Chatterjee

Santosh Sivan

NCPA

designedwith IMAX in mind — capturing a large portion of the fi lm with IMAX 15 perforation/65mm fi lm cameras, the highest-resolution cameras in the world. And the screening of the fi lm, presented by Nolan himself at Carnival Cinemas IMAX, Wadala, on March 31 as part of the fourth ‘Reframing the Future of Film’ hosted by Film Heritage Foundation in India, will offer the very experience he envisioned. “In India, we have come from 70mm fi lms such as Sholay and Razia Sultan which had fi ve perforations. But the camera which(Nolan) shot with has 15 perforations. He is giving you 18K instead of 4K. It is an opportunity to watch Dunkirk in the resolution the director intended to be experienced,” explains Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation.For this unique screening, IMAX Wadala will be outfitted with an IMAX 70mm film projection system for which the projectors are presently being refurbished. Nolan’s Intersteller will also be screened the same day at the art-deco theatre Liberty Cinemas and the film’s print is currently being shipped from Philippines by Warner Bros Pictures. “Nolan will be present for both screenings. After presenting Dunkirk at 6 pm, he will be at Liberty for the 9 pm show of Interstellar,” informs Dungarpur, excitedly showing a photograph of the 265kg delivery he recently received from Warner Bros Pictures — the film reels of the British filmmaker’s latest blockbuster. In an official statement, Nolan said, “The opportunity of showing Dunkirk on 70mm IMAX film, the way it was originally shot, gives us an exciting way to engage the Indian film industry in an exploration of the distinctive qualities of this universal medium.”On the fi rst day of the three-day event, visual artist Tacita Dean will speak at the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum on how celluloid fi lm can be placed in spaces such as museums. “If you look at statistics, till 2014, we were still censoring on celluloid. Celluloid isn’t a thing of the past and several regional fi lms continue to be shot on it,” says Dungarpur, adding that there will also be a discussion on setting criteria for best practices in fi lm preservation on the second day.A roundtable has been organised where Nolan and Dean will address 35 industry biggies such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Hassan, Mani Ratnam, along with cinema exhibiters such as Ajay Bijli of PVR Cinemas, museum heads like Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Tasneem Mehta and cinematographers likeandOn the third day, a public forum will be held atin Mumbai where Dungarpur will be in conversation with Nolan and Dean about reframing the future of fi lm. “It will be a dialogue on how celluloid can co-exist with digital, various challenges of working with celluloid fi lms and why it is important to preserve them,” adds Dungarpur.Speaking of the dialogue he intends to lead, Nolan added, “Tacita Dean and I are thrilled to be bringing our discussion about the future of photochemical fi lm to one of the most passionate and vital centres of fi lm production in India.”Some of the issues to be covered at the forum include reimagining fi lms as a medium rather than technology, strategies for the co-existence of fi lm in the digital age, the need to invest in future photochemical research and development, strategies to encourage fi lm projection in festivals, getting distributors to lend prints to cinemas and museums that are purely digital, among others. “We need to make good fi lm projection a cultural and fi nancial asset by reinventing it as an experience. This has been recently successfully achieved by the 70mm projection,” adds Dungarpur.█ Tacita Dean and I are thrilled to be bringing our discussion about the future of photochemical film to one of the most passionate and vital centres of film production in India