(photo courtesy of UW Cinematheque)
The folks at UW Cinematheque are really putting their money where their mouths are. And your money, too if you’re purchasing a ticket to their November 13 screening of Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language at Marcus Point Cinemas.
In a press release from yesterday afternoon, Cinematheque announced that proceeds from the fundraiser screening will help “efforts to bring digital 3D projection” to 4070 Vilas Hall. The repertory program’s primary venue just added Digital Cinema Package (DCP) to its repertoire earlier this year.
Goodbye to Language has been widely met with critical acclaim in part for its innovative use of 3D, and Cinematheque’s press release dubs their screening as a “Wisconsin premiere,” a term that’s increasingly become the polite way of saying “this is your one chance to see this in a theater.”
An appearance by UW-Madison’s esteemed Professor David Bordwell will both introduce the film and and host a post-screening discussion. On his blog, Bordwell dubbed Godard’s latest as “the best 3D film [he’s] ever seen,” and regardless of how low a bar you think that clears, Bordwell’s presence and insight will inarguably sweeten the experience.
Tickets for the event are $20 and can be purchased online through the Wisconsin Film Festival’s website. The ticket price, timing and fundraising efforts are all in step with Cinematheque’s screening of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre at Sundance Cinemas last October. Proceeds from that event went towards the aforementioned DCP upgrade, and Cinematheque Director Jim Healy and staff deserve credit for broadening their exhibition toolkit during a time when the guy who made Raging Bull has to team up with the guy who made Inception just to preserve older mediums.
The bigger, less appropriate question now is what’s next for Cinematheque? 70mm IMAX? (No seriously, can that be next?)
- Goodbye to Language screens at Marcus Point Cinemas on Nov 13 at 7:00p. Tickets are $20.