Invention for Destruction restored after almost 60 years, returns to the EXPO. World Premiere will be held concurrently at Karlovy Vary, in New York and on Czech Television
3. 7. 2015
Exactly 57 years ago at the World Film Festival at Expo 58 in Brussels the premiere of Invention for Destruction by Karel Zeman took place. A sci-fi film about an invention which could easily destroy the world, it won the Grand Prix at the Festival and then literally flew around the world. In New York, it was shown in 96 film theaters symultaneously each evening!
The most successful Czechoslovak film in history, whose beauty has not faded even after nearly sixty years, will once again be presented to the public on the big screen in a digitally restored version. The world premiere will be on Friday, July 10, 2015 from 20:00 when the film will shine again at World EXPO 2015 in the National Museum of Film in Turin, at the jubilee International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary and in the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. All viewers will be able to simultaneously partake in this unique premier on their TV screens thanks to Czech Television.
The film Invention for Destruction had been digitally restored under the project Restoring a World of Fantasy, a joint project of The Czech Film Foundation, the Karel Zeman Museum and Czech Television. Its goal is within three years to digitally restore selected films by Karel Zeman to the highest quality possible, put them on display on huge movie screens and bring them to life again.
"It's amazing that today's technology allows us restore and retain any form of artworks in the world so that it can shine again and give humanity the same aesthetic and artistic experience as their originals, many years ago. Therefore, I support the project Restoring a World of Fantasy immensely because my father's famous films belong among the artworks of the world," says Ludmila Zemanová, which is personally involved in the restoration of the films. She and her family are flying specially from Canada to Karlovy Vary to present the restored film of her father. Digital restoration supervisor on the project is the American expert James Mockoski, who will also attend the premiere in Karlovy Vary.
In addition to Czechia's most important film festival, the movie will be shown simultaneously at locations where it garnered its greatest response at the time of its premiere, as part of the Czech Republic's participation in EXPO 2015 in cooperation with the Czech Centre in Milan, the Turin Film Museum (Museo Nazionale del Cinema) will present the film in the Cinema Massimo, a prestigious movie theater museum. "The showing in the Turin Film Museum is unique in that it will present Invention for Destruction to a foreign audience in its restored form, but also due to the fact that this unique film will screen again at a World EXPO, where just 57 years ago, on June 9, 1958 the picture was premiered and also given the Grand Prix," said Jiří F. Potužník, Commissioner General of Czech participation at EXPO 2015. The screening will be accompanied by a thematic exhibition that will be on display until July 19. Zeman's work will also be presented to the Italian public in Milan, through the showing of Zeman's films and an exhibition prepared by the Czech Centre in Milan in collaboration with the Milan Film Archive which will be held from 18 July in Milan's Spazio Oberdan and which will be tied in directly with the activities Turin.
Overseas audiences will be able to enjoy the premiere of this art film at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
A gala premiere on Czech Television screens will ensure that the picture can be seen by as many spectators as possible. "Care of historic audiovisual materials is one of the priorities of Czech Television. Every week in our archive are produced hundreds of hours of digitized programs. We have converted nearly one hundred valuable films of Czech cinematography from 35 millimetre film into high-resolution digital copies. Nevertheless, when last year in Karlovy Vary we signed the memorandum on the joint project Restoring a World of Fantasy, I almost did not believe it would be possible to create the restored version as such a demanding film as Invention for Destruction within a single year. We succeeded and I'm happy that we're able to offer this unique experience as a premiere to our viewers," says Petr Dvořák, CEO of the Czech Television.
"The films of Karel Zeman await restoration in accordance with internationally recognized standards and the current technological possibilities in 4K at the highest possible quality," adds Petr Šikoš, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Czech Film Foundation, which is guarantor of the financial aspects of the restoration. But all lovers of Zeman's films can contribute any amount they wish to the account of The Czech Film Foundation: 107-5652650247 / 0100 or by sending a donor SMS worth CZK 30 in the form DMS BIJAKY to 87 777. You can also contribute regularly throughout the year by sending an sms DMS ROK BIJAKY, again to 87 777. Support and additional funds for the restoration is also being provided by the Ministry of Culture.
In three years the project Restoring a World of Fantasy will digitally restore three most important films of Karel Zeman. After Invention for Destruction will come the restoration of the films The Fabulous Baron Munchausen and Journey to the Beginning of Time.
The Restoration is being led by the master restorer Ivo Marák at Universal Production Partners (UPP), the renewal of the audio portion of the film is being provided by Soundsquare.
For more information about the project Restoring a World of Fantasy and on the process of digital restoration, visit www.bijaky.cz and the exhibition at the Karel Zeman Museum.
