American Cinematographer - February 1993 - 12

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Oxle Slate

Public Broadcasters Protest
I am writing in response to an
article written by Albert Maysles in the Sep¬
tember 1992 edition of American Cinema¬

tographer.
As a producer/director for KEET-

TV, Channel 13, a PBS affiliate in Eureka,
California, and formerly a commercial TV

producer, I and other members of our staff
have some questions about Mr. Maysles'
article.

First, in reference to:.. And
nowhere, not even on PBS, is there a pro¬

who could find a 'slot' for them,"
referring to his bouquet commercials with¬
out sponsors, we beg to differ! How many
PBS stations did Mr. Maysles check into
before making such an assumption? Is this
remark a challenge? There have been some
magnificent PSAs produced [for public
broadcast] promoting "special moments in
life," such as a spot for the Points of Life

grammer

Foundation.

Yes, we all realize it takes money
and

a

sponsor to

produce these true-to-life
taking the time to

moments. Rather than

write

r/Ke

an

malicious; most likely

opposite [was intended]. However, we

-

Deborah Heiman
Karen Barnes
Therese I. Buck
Susan Seaman
KEET-TV

Eureka, CA

Since

# 1,
Tenscke, Inc641s? £
Qihae^
M- Mo/lyvOCtd,
<9/6«l

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(&£)w*-oitS)

Talankine; 1975's Derzu Uzala, directed by
A. Kurosawa; and 1976's Queen of the Gyp¬
sies, directed by E. Lotianou. These three
films were released in 70mm in France, but
perhaps not in the U.S.A., which may ex¬
plain why they were not mentioned in the
recent articles on Far and Away.

The above films

re¬

at KEET-TV would like some clarification.

Industry Standard

sian movies in 70mm since 1970.
Some of these films were re¬
leased in Europe and the United States, e.g.
1974's Tchaikowsky, directed by Igor

were

shot in

time. This technique was used in such films
as The Red Tent, directed by M. Kalatazov

the

The "ST Time Cafe 5|ate.

(Mosfilms Studios alone accounted for
seven such films in 1973).
These figures are confirmed by
"Wide Screen Movies," a book written by
Mrs. Robert Carr and R.M. Hayes, whose
filmography lists approximately 200 Rus¬

We understand that this article
meant to be

wav

C&10?

oneself with little

equipped with 70mm and in the [number of]
movies designed for such theaters

70mm, but as your article points out, blow¬
ups were also relatively frequent at the

fAsrtioMep

The

on

used this format in the next decade for more
films than they had since 1960. This fact can
be checked by referring to your special 1974
issue entitled "Filmmaking in the Societ
Union." One article in this issue mentioned
the steady increase in movie theaters

search, why not produce precious moments
and attempt syndication?
was not

cope
-me
CLP

article

productions after 1970, Russian studios

More 70mm

Having recently read different
articles in American and French magazines
(including American Cinematographer) pre¬
senting Far and Away as the "first film shot
in 70mm in 20 years," I am writing you to
set the record straight with respect to this
assertion (although Mr. Ward has already
preceded me to some extent).
Although it is true that American
and European studios abandoned 70mm

fAA

February 1993

(1971, Italian-Soviet coproduction), The
Blue Bird, directed by G. Cukor, (1976,
American-Soviet coproduction), and 1976's
Siberiade, directed by A. Kontchalovsky.
A large proportion of Soviet pro¬
ductions continued to use 70mm cameras
even

shortly before the collapse of Commu¬

nism, according to a technician who spoke
with

me two

was

presenting the

years ago

in Paris, where he
Arriflex 765 cam¬

new

era.

Another country that produced
70mm movies after 1970 was the
German Democratic Republic, where the
DEFA Studios developed cameras and 6track sound equipment in 1967 (described
in a brochure of the time).
The only films of these produc¬
many

with which I am aquainted are those
presented in France or during festivals. They
include 1971 's Goya, directed by Konrad

ers
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