Giant Screen Theater Association And Large Format Cinema Association Collaborate To Honor Fiilmmaker Francis Thompson
The Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA), in association with the Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA), the two pre-eminent associations of the large format cinema industry, will present a tribute to pioneering special format filmmaker and Academy Award winner Francis Thompson on Wed., September 15 in the Premiere House at Sony Theatres Lincoln Square, Broadway & 68th Street, in New York City. The tribute is part of the GSTA annual conference, which this year is co-hosted by the Sony IMAX Theatre in New York and the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Thompson himself, who lives in New York and is now 91, is expected to attend in person. Francis Thompson launched a new generation of large format applications that led to the introduction and rapid expansion of multiscreen media and the 15-perforation 70mm format (15/70). This tribute is a rare opportunity to see a restored print of Thompson's 1958 masterpiece, ""NY NY"" as well as his Academy AwardÆ-winning 70mm triptych film, the legendary ""To Be Alive,"" which was the hit of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair where it played at the SC Johnson Wax Pavilion. Both films will be shown in their entirety. The presentation of the Francis Thompson Tribute at GSTA is part of the ongoing cooperation between LFCA and GSTA. ""Our complementary organizations have joined hands to honor a great artist and innovator who helped define the medium of large format film,"" says LFCA President Christopher Reyna. ""We are thrilled to work with the LFCA to present this tribute,"" says Mary Jane Dodge, Vice President of Imax Theatres for Loews Cineplex Entertainment and Chair of the GSTA marketing committee. ""It's very important to honor the contributions of filmmakers who've pioneered this young industry and left their marks on the community."" The Francis Thompson Tribute was originally presented in May 1998 as a highlight of the LFCA annual meeting in Los Angeles. At that time, LFCA presented Francis Thompson with the Abel Gance Award for Lifetime Achievement. Thompson was unable to attend at that time, and organizers look forward to his presence this year. ""It will be quite a treat for Francis to see it, and for us to show it in his hometown,"" says Moore. The multi-media Francis Thompson Tribute was produced and directed for LFCA by Dennis Earl Moore, and edited and stage directed by Ammiel Najar, with the assistance of Bayley Silleck, Tim Housel, Sasha Hammid and others. The multi-media tribute will include clips from other Thompson films as well as recent videotaped interviews with Thompson and live narration from Thompson's collaborators, such as Greg MacGillivray, Peter Crane, Silleck and Moore. Sponsors of the tribute include LFCA, MacGillivray Freeman Films, IMAGICA USA INC., Giant Screen Sports, NOVA Large Format Films and Dennis Earl Moore Prodns. Inc. For the tribute, LFCA restored an original 35mm print of ""NY NY."" Eight years in the making, the film premiered in 1958 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. An 18-minute montage depicting a day in the life of the city, it reveals the influence of modern art on the painter-turned filmmaker. Thompson created a variety of reflecting devices to split, fragment, distort and repeat the images he captured for the film. ""NY NY"" was originally produced in 16mm Kodachrome. The film was funded, produced, directed and photographed by Thompson, with a score by Gene Forrell. The print screened is from a 35mm negative made directly from the original in 1958. The 1964 title ""To Be Alive"" was created specially for the SC Johnson Wax Pavilion at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows. It was the hit of the fair, received great critical acclaim and went on to win an Academy Award. Inspired by Abel Gance's ""Napoleon,"" Thompson adopted Gance's triptych (three-screen) format to create this enduring statement of universal humanity. ""To Be Alive"" was originally a 35mm, three-camera, three-projector, three-screen exhibit. This screening will be in 5/70 anamorphic format (Ultra-Panavision). The composite 65mm negative for the print was made at MGM in 1965 from the original camera elements, for theatrical release in order to qualify for the Academy Awards. The film was produced and directed by Francis Thompson and Sasha Hammid. Other members of the production team were Peter Powell, Peter Robinson, Theo Kamecke, Dick Adams, Rick Forstman, Gene Forrell and Joan Piker. Thompson's career as a filmmaker spans nearly five decades, beginning in the early 1940s. Originally a painter and art teacher, he founded his own film company in the 1950s. After the success of To Be Alive, he went on to make other groundbreaking special format films for world's fair exhibits, including >We Are Young< (a six-screen 35mm film for Montreal Expo 67); ""US"" (a three-screen 35mm film for the 1968 world's fair in San Antonio); and ""Energy! Energy!"" (a 15/70 film for the 1982 world's fair in Knoxville). Thompson produced some of the earliest and best-known films made in the 15/70 format that was developed by Imax Corp. in 1970, including ""To Fly!"" (1976); ""American Years"" (1976); ""Living Planet"" (1979) and ""On the Wing"" (1986). About GSTA And LFCA The Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA), formerly known as the International Space Theater Consortium (ISTC), is a not-for-profit formed in 1977 to unite operators of institutional large format theaters around the world. The organization serves primarily 15/70 theaters with educational missions. The mission of GSTA is ""to be a global forum for presentation of entertaining giant screen films which promote lifelong learning."" Its annual September conference brings together theater operators, developers, filmmakers and suppliers. GSTA maintains a Web site at http://www.giantscreentheater.com, telephone 705 523 8146. The Large Format Cinema Association (LFCA) is a not-for-profit worldwide trade association founded in 1996 to address professional issues and needs of all players and cinematic formats in special format and special venue moviemaking - including 5/70, 8/70, 10/70 and 15/70 film, as well as HDTV and other digital media - and to encourage growth and experimentation in the industry. Part of its mission is to increase awareness of the unique heritage of specialty filmmaking and the need to preserve milestone films. LFCA holds an annual Conference every May in Los Angeles. For more information, visit the LFCA Web site, http://lfca.org, or phone 209 477 2726. About The Host Facilities Of The 1999 GSA Conference At the SONY IMAX Theatre visitors put on a pair of high-tech electronic 3D headsets and step into a new dimension with state-of-the-art 3D sight and sound technology. The 600-seat theater also features a screen soaring eight stories high and 10 stories wide - and makes 2D movies larger than life. The IMAX Theatre was the first commercial IMAX theatre to open as part of a multiplex by a major exhibition circuit in the US. The IMAX Theatre is part of Sony Theatres Lincoln Square, a 12-theatre movie complex, which is the highest grossing movie theatre in the US. Web site: http://www.sonyimax.com. Liberty Science Center - just minutes from Manhattan in Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey - is a major public resource for interactive lifelong learning on science and technology. The Center is home to more than 250 hands-on exhibits on three theme-specific floors: Invention, Health and Environment. Liberty Science Center hosts numerous science-related activities and demonstrations, as well as the nation's largest IMAX dome. Since opening in 1993, more than 5 million guests have come to Liberty Science Center, making it one of the region's most visited school and family attractions. Web site: http://www.lsc.org.