By Neil Smith
Entertainment reporter, BBC News, in Edinburgh
Digital technology could enable the 2012 Olympics to be shown in 3D in
cinemas across the UK, former film producer Lord Puttnam has said.
It should be possible to show the London Olympics "every single day in
3D on every screen in the country", he said at the Edinburgh Film
Festival.
3D sport, he said, could be a "real game changer" that could put
cinemas "at the heart of digital Britain".
He was speaking in the wake of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report.
" Digital technologies, including broadband, have the potential to
transform the role of cinemas " Lord Puttnam
That report, published on Tuesday, laid out the government's strategy
for broadband and digital content.
Best known for producing such films as Chariots of Fire, Local Hero
and The Killing Fields, David Puttnam was made a Labour peer in 1997.
Sir Sean Connery, patron of the Edinburgh Film Festival, was among the
audience as he offered his thoughts on cinema in the digital age.
"Digital technologies, including broadband, have the potential to
transform the role of cinemas," he said.
"The film industry, and film culture in general, have a fantastic
opportunity to play a pioneering role."
'Far too timid'
Currently, he continued, just 10% of cinema screens in the UK were
equipped for digital presentation.
Its flexibility, however, enabled cinemas to become "incredibly
valuable focal points, especially in smaller and more rural
communities".
Lord Puttnam - who described himself as a "quasi-politician" and
"something of an outsider" - said the film sector must prepare for "a
new round of change".
Cinema, he went on, had a "significant political role in moments of
crisis" and could speak to people of all ages and backgrounds.
However, he continued, contemporary cinema "remains far too timid
about using its ability to positively influence young minds".
Climate change was one issue filmmakers should tackle more often, he said.
They should also shake off the notion that films could be either
worthy or successful, but rarely both.
'Dangerous propaganda'
Since leaving the world of commercial film, Lord Puttnam has become
chancellor of the Open University and president of Unicef UK, a post
he will shortly relinquish.
Earlier this year, he launched the Curriculum Foundation, a new
organisation aimed at improving school life.
His other positions include president of the Film Distributors'
Association and deputy chairman of Channel 4.
This, however, did not stop him taking the channel to task for airing
The Great Global Warming Swindle in March 2007 - a programme, he said,
that constituted "dangerous propaganda for a minority view".
Lord Puttnam's keynote address was held on the fifth day of the 63rd
Edinburgh Film Festival, which runs until 28 June.
Actress Brenda Blethyn, US director Darren Aronofsky and Scottish
film-maker Bill Forsyth are among this year's other celebrity guests.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/8111726.stm
Published: 2009/06/21 14:34:11 GMT
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