WOKINGHAM, England – (May 12, 2015) – Christie®, the global leader in visual displays and audio technologies, has signed a new agreement to be technical partner of the Cannes Film Festival for a further three years. This means that for the ninth year running, the famous showcase, held May 13-24, will use Christie's solutions for all its movie screenings. The enduring relationship offers a fascinating insight behind the iconic red-carpet event and – beyond – to how the industry of cinema is evolving.
"Would Cannes Festival have known the development of D-cinema over the past few years without Christie’s knowledge and technical involvement?" commented Thierry Fremaux, General Delegate of Cannes. "2015 is the ninth consecutive year for the partnership between Christie and Cannes Festival, and I’m delighted to say that it is more than a simple partnership."
It’s a theme echoed by Richard Nye, Cinema Sales Director, EMEA. "Interestingly, in the time we’ve been partnering with Cannes, projection technology has been part of a shift in cinema," explains Nye. "The transition from- film-to-digital and DCI compliance is something we have led. People think of movie heroes, but technology is an unsung hero and part of the story of modern cinema."
The renewal of the partnership confirms Christie's leader status in the digital cinema industry. More movies will be screened digitally this year – with over 1,000 scheduled – revealing the increasing weight of digital technologies in the industry.
"Cannes is proud to be able to offer producers who have come from all over the world, the best possible projection environment, so their work is shown as world premieres and they are guaranteed a level of quality that everyone knows is the best in the world," continued Thierry Fremaux. Christie is supplying 31 projectors from its Solaria® series, supporting a variety of screen sizes and formats."
For the first time there will be a 4K screening on the beach.
"One of the directors has digitally re-mastered a film in 4K so we were asked to provide a CP4230projector (a 4K DCI compliant projector for the largest screens sizes) for the Cinema de la Plage," said Pascal Gervais, regional sales director for France, Christie. "We were already providing CP4230s for the 4K in all the bigger halls such as Lumiere, Debussy and Soixantième. The projector can switch from 4K to 2K, depending on which film is showing, so other material can be screened. We were also asked for several Christie SKA-3D processors. Cannes is using them with their existing equipment to play Blu-ray through the SKA HDMI connection and SKA can output as cinema format. It’s a simple switch but makes the Festival’s organizers lives much easier."
Christie’s technical support will allow audiences to have a comprehensive cinema experience, including the highly anticipated screening of Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller's new movie, presented on Thursday, May 14 at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, outside of the competition.
"We are very pleased to continue our partnership with the world's leading festival. We are proud supporters of cinema as an art form, working behind-the-scenes more than people realize as part of our commitment to and relationship within the industry," concludes Richard Nye.
Note on DCI compliance: Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) was created in March, 2002, and is a joint venture of Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios. DCI's primary purpose is to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.
