Widescreen Goes Worldwide
International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), the worldís electronic media event, will feature an International Widescreen Festival, Le Nombre díOr, as part of IBC99 from September 10-14 at the Amsterdam RAI. ""The International spread of the Festival this year is amazing,"" said Festival President Theo van Eupen. ""We received 100 entries from 23 countries covering the five continents, with Sweden, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa entering for the first time. We also had a particularly strong showing from the UK, which no doubt reflects the amazing take-off of digital widescreen in Britain over the past six months."" ""Widescreen is still in a state of transition however,"" cautioned the Organizing Committee Chairman, Franco Visintin. ""We have detected a slight lack of courage among a number of European producers and broadcasters to fully embrace widescreen. However, with HD production coming on ñstream in e U.S., this will provide a catalyst for the spread of 16:9 production internationally,"" added Visintin. The 26 programs will be viewed in public screenings (open to IBC visitors) bay a distinguished International Jury, Chaired by Catherine Lamour, the Head of Documentaries at Canal Plus, France. The Jury will also comprise: Inger Aby (Sweden), Jan Cuypers (Belgium), Carlo Di Palma (Italy), Marina Goldovskaya (Russia/USA), Xavier Nicolas (France) and Margaret Smilow (USA). Another feature of IBC99 is the Widescreen Production Forum, which will highlight creative opportunities in 16:9 while presenting solutions to widescreen and 4:3 compatibility problems. The Sudden And Significant Emergence Of 24p will focus on the technical preferences of the American production community, where 24p is the hot topic of 1999. Leading Hollywood executives Garrett Smith (Paramount) and Rob Hummel (Digital Technologies) will review how the film industry is re-examining itself in he light of the new digital technologies for production and distribution. For a full schedule, see the IBC Web site at www.ibc.org. About IBC IBC is the worldís electronic media event. Attended annually by 35,000 broadcast, film and multimedia professionals from 120 countries worldwide, its exhibition is renowned as the best in its field. This year it will be bigger than ever with almost 700 exhibitors covering nine halls and occupying 37,000 square meters of exhibit space. Every major supplier of technology will be represented. For more information on the International Widescreen Festival and Production Events at IBC, please contact Jarlath OíConnell or Gina Christison at the IBC Office, Aldwych House, 81 Aldwych, London WC2B 4EL, Phone +44 (0) 171 611 7500 or Fax +44 (0) 171 611 7530, or Email: joconnell@ibc.org.