Today the New York Times published a piece about how hard many film artists are taking Kodak's decision to discontinue THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER-8 FILM STOCK.
Kodachrome was the film of choice for avant-garde filmmakers like Kenneth Anger
and Jonas Mekas, who were renowned in the film world though largely unknown outside it. A much larger population has most likely seen the film's fine-grain quality
and lurid pigments in the form of old home movies. Indeed, the most famous image
caught on Kodachrome film was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,
caught by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas dressmaker who happened to be wielding an
8-millimeter camera that day.
People keep failing to mention that there is a place in the United States (the beloved
Dwayne's in Parsons, Kansad) that SPECIALIZES in processing the film stock. Their prices are reasonable, their turnaround is amazing and they can overnight your film. This whole sending your Kodachrome to Switzerland thing is a MYTH, a myth I tell you. Why Snopes hasn't gotten on this I do not know.
Here's Dwayne's annoucement:
Kodachrome Super 8 Film Discontinued
On May 9th Kodak announced the
discontinuance of Kodachrome Super 8 Film.
We will continue offering
processing for all types of Kodachrome film INCLUDING Super 8 film. As long as
Kodachrome film remains available in 35mm and 16mm formats, we intend to offer
processing for ALL formatsof Kodachrome film.
We will also offer processing
for the new Kodak 64TSuper 8 film, when it becomes available.
Dwayne's, The Only Processor of Kodachrome Motion Picture Film in the
United States.
I love you, Kodachrome and I love you Dwayne's!
okay Denver, don't say I never gave you anything!
FFC's Walter Chaw will be discussing a FilmLight favorite, Michelangelo Antonioni's
Blow-Up, at the Denver Public Library this Tuesday. It's part of an on-going series for the lucky citizens of Denver!
See also:
Film Freak Central
Tribute to Ozon ends soon!
The Museum of the Moving Image's tribute to French director Francois Ozon ends June 5, 2005.
One of French cinema's brightest talents, Ozon integrates slapstick comedy, black humor, fairy tales, tabloid-style melodrama, stylized violence and keenly observed adult drama into his work. -Indiewire
See also:
Francois Ozon official site8 Femmes on stage in Japan!
I love Claire Denis.
I don't understand the word “edgy”. I forgot what it means.
(from an interview at www.sensesofcinema.com with Denis on her new film L’Intrus.
One half of Merchant and Ivory is dead.
"It is with great sadness that Merchant Ivory Productions announces that
... our company founder and beloved producer for more than 44 years has passed
away after a brief illness," his office said in a statement.
Go here for the rest of the article.
As part of the portfolio revamp, Kodak will discontinue sales of its S8 KODACHROME 40 Movie Film. Final sales of KODACHROME Super 8 will be based on product availability over the coming months. Sales of KODACHROME 16 mm films will continue, unaffected by this announcement.
The decision to discontinue KODACHROME in Super 8 was driven entirely by marketplace dynamics.
"Because the 'home movie' market has shifted to digital, sales of KODACHROME Super 8 film have declined significantly," according to Mayson. "In tandem with that decline, the availability of processing for KODACHROME Super 8 cartridges has diminished. In other words, fewer and fewer labs worldwide have the machines and the chemistry necessary to process this film emulsion in the Super 8 format."
Me, you, and everyone we know has a blog
Artist/filmmaker
Miranda July, who's first feature film
ME YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW is the love child of just about every film festival this year from
Sundance to
Cannes and every indie fest in between has been keeping a very interactive
blog on her film's website, detailing her film festival experiences almost daily as it happens. It's definitely worth checking out.
Another famous-ish film person who's blog I recently noticed was indie actor/personality,
Wiley Wiggins who some of you might remember as
that cute boy from
Dazed and Confused. Turns out Wiley is also a visual artist, musician, critic, and
blogger among other things.
If anyone else knows of any good blogs by people
FilmLight probably writes about, please let us know.
And speaking of Miranda, she's on the
cover of this month's
Filmmaker magazine. This makes two female filmmakers on the cover of Filmmaker
two issues in a row. (Last issue had
Rebecca Miller of
The Ballad of Jack and Rose fame featured.) Here's hoping the next issue makes three...
Roc Docs
Last week I rented
DIG!, the documentary by Ondi Timoner about the almost decade-long rivalry between the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. As someone who is a fan of neither bands, I was ready to pop that 2nd Bonus DVD by the time I was done watching the first DVD of the film. It's truly one of the best rock 'n roll documentaries I've ever seen. DIG! shows the audience through 7 years worth of footage, how some artists keep not succeeding due to their own self-destructive habits and how some lesser talented artists succeed because they're simply at the right place at the right time and are better at marketing themselves. Sound familiar?
Speaking of rock docs, I feel like I've been waiting forever to see
Edgeplay: A film about the Runaways. After a festival run last year, it's now available for purchase online. Woo hoo.
Also, I'm not sure how many of you are aware that filmmaker
Allison Anders and her daughter, musician
Tiffany Anders have a film and music festival dedicated to rock 'n roll movies. Their fest is called
Don't Knock The Rock and their call for entries ends on May 15th, so hurry up and submit even if all you have is some footage of a cool garage rock band no one's ever heard of--showcasing that kind of stuff seems to be in keeping with the spirit of the fest which happens in August.
