logo
ENع
#

Latest news with #sciFi

Kathleen Kennedy Calls the Discovery of the First STAR WARS Print 'Remarkable"; It's a 'Miracle' It Survived — GeekTyrant
Kathleen Kennedy Calls the Discovery of the First STAR WARS Print 'Remarkable"; It's a 'Miracle' It Survived — GeekTyrant

Geek Tyrant

time13-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Geek Tyrant

Kathleen Kennedy Calls the Discovery of the First STAR WARS Print 'Remarkable"; It's a 'Miracle' It Survived — GeekTyrant

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made a rare and unexpected appearance at the BFI Film on Film Festival in London to help kick off the public screening of one of the most historically significant artifacts in sci-fi cinema… the very first print of George Lucas' Star Wars from 1977. This is the version of the film before it was labeled Episode IV: A New Hope in the opening crawl and before Greedo ever got the first shot off in the cantina. The discovery of the original print was surprising, and it was exciting to hear that the BFI would be screening it during the festival. Long considered lost, or at the very least buried under layers of Lucas' notorious edits and alterations, this version represents the raw, theatrical cut that launched the most influential space opera of all time. Kennedy addressed the crowd directly, acknowledging the skepticism from fans who worried the print's screening might go against George Lucas' artistic intent. 'It's incredible folklore. Even when I came into the company, there was endless conversation about where everything was, and what was in fact the first print? And it's quite remarkable, what you're going to see is in fact the first print, and I'm not even sure there's another one quite like it. It's that rare.' She added: 'There's so much tinkering that's gone on over the years, and things that George [Lucas] decided, 'I'm gonna change this, I'm gonna try that.' And then, everybody kind of lost track of what it was.' For decades, Lucas has stood by his edits, once telling the Associated Press: 'I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it, but I want it to be the way I want it to be.' That statement, combined with years of 'Special Edition' tweaks, led many to believe the original cut might never be seen again, at least not in public. BFI chief executive Ben Roberts echoed the magnitude of the discovery, calling it nothing short of a 'miracle' that the print was still in good enough condition to be shown to an audience. Kennedy said her appearance was in part to 'legitimize' the screening, and she made it clear that despite the changes over the years, this film, the original Star Wars, remains the template for all that followed. 'I would say this is the film everyone starts with when we start talking about story, George's intent and what it is we're trying to build off of.' As the Star Wars franchise evolves with streaming hits like The Mandalorian and Andor and upcoming films like Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter with Ryan Gosling, and Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian and Grogu . Kennedy sees this rediscovery as a foundation: 'I really think that now we're in a position where it's broadened the possibility of stories and filmmakers we can bring in to tell stories that mean something to them – it doesn't necessarily have to connect to every little thing that's been done in 'Star Wars'; it can actually be a standalone story that then builds into many many other stories.' I would love to see this version of Star Wars on the big screen! The version of Star Wars that sparked a cultural phenomenon. Source: Variety

Set 500 years in the future, this outdoor performance turns Toronto into an apocalyptic desert
Set 500 years in the future, this outdoor performance turns Toronto into an apocalyptic desert

CBC

time11-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • CBC

Set 500 years in the future, this outdoor performance turns Toronto into an apocalyptic desert

The centrepiece of The Bentway's new summer production is a pile of sand. An enormous heap that's sitting under the Gardiner Expressway. The show is Sand Flight, an original work of contemporary dance created by choreographer Ingri Midgard Fiksdal and theatre director Jonas Corell Petersen, and it takes audiences 500 years into the future — when the Toronto we know has been swept away by wandering dunes. The production will have its world premiere Thursday at The Bentway, less than a week after another monumental, climate-conscious performance debuted in the city. Thaw, an eight-hour aerial spectacle in Sankofa Square, was presented by Luminato Festival last weekend, and it featured performers grappling with a melting iceberg on a moving crane. In Sand Flight, eight dancers will take to a manufactured sand dune, where they'll be joined by 50 singers from Viva Voices, a local all-ages choir. It's a compelling sci-fi premise, but Sand Flight doesn't tell a "straight up story," Fiksdal explains. "We are circling around the theme of shade and sun and how cities might change in the future when — or if — global warming continues," she says. But according to the choreographer, the piece has a hopeful point of view despite its existentially dreadful subject matter. To survive, humanity must unite, and in the hour-long performance, the dancers gradually adapt to their strange and unstable environment, becoming stronger when they collaborate and rely on each other. Performances will be happening at The Bentway June 12 to 15, and the piece is expected to tour internationally after its Toronto run. (Dates in Copenhagen and Oslo are already scheduled.) We are circling around the theme of shade and sun and how cities might change in the future when — or if — global warming continues. Both Fiksdal and Petersen live in Norway, but the piece was directly inspired by a trip to Toronto — and The Bentway site, specifically. Located under the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway, The Bentway technically stretches from Dufferin Street in the west to the Don Valley Parkway in the east, and the artists were struck by the unusual grandeur of the space. "It's so far from human scale in a way. It's so extremely large," says Fiksdal. "We were thinking, 'How can we work with human performers in this context and still make an impact somehow, [so] it just doesn't become this teeny tiny thing that you look at from afar?'" The solution was sand. Lots and lots of sand. They could build something enormous with it — and sand, they realized, was rich in symbolic meaning. "Underneath the Gardiner Expressway, this used to be the shoreline, the old shoreline of Toronto. So it has been a sandy ground in the past," says Fiksdal. "Cities are built on sand in a way, or this kind of material. And then cities also disappear and reappear as new cities," adds Petersen. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust … sand to sand. As Fiksdal sees it, everything under the sun will eventually become sand somehow. And with sand, they could create the illusion of a desert. What if the setting was a city forever transformed by climate disaster? It was a concept that hewed to the curatorial theme of The Bentway's summer program, Sun/Shade. The outdoor art exhibition opened last month, and it features a variety of original works including a mixed-media installation by Sobey Art Award finalist Tania Willard. "As our cities are getting hotter, there's a need for shade," says Alex Rand, The Bentway's manager of programming and lead producer on Sand Flight. Shade is something the venue has always provided in spades. It is, after all, sheltered below a 6.5 km stretch of freeway. "While we were developing a work with [Fiksdal and Petersen], we invited them to respond to this idea of shade and rising temperatures," says Rand. "The sand is meant to represent the desert-ification of our cities," he says — and last Monday, sand began arriving at The Bentway by the truckload. There's 700 tonnes at The Bentway right now. (After the show's run, all of that sand will be returned to suppliers.) "The priority was to get [the dancers] on the sand as quickly as possible," says Rand, and the ensemble — which includes several members of Toronto Dance Theatre — has been rehearsing daily at The Bentway in the lead up to Thursday's opening. "They are navigating the sand dune in different ways," says Fiksdal, describing the dancers' movements in the show. "On one level, they're working with the sand — how to traverse the sand or how to be with the sand," she says. "And then they're also in negotiation, because the sand obviously affects how they can move." To create the choreography, Fiksdal rehearsed on actual sand dunes, and spent time at the Råbjerg Mile, a migrating coastal dune in Denmark. There, she experienced harsh winds and blowing sand. But she also discovered the creative potential of such an unpredictable environment. Sand is soft. "It offers a lot of possibilities in terms of tumbling down or operating differently with gravity," she says. Sand Flight will be staged at Strachan Gate, under the concrete arches of the Gardiner. During performances, the cyclists and dog-walkers who frequent the area are in for a surprise. Rand hopes the outdoor spectacle motivates them to buy a ticket to the show. (Same-day rush passes will be available, he says.) "Seeing the performance, you will get this kind of frame from the highway with a lush background of the green trees and parks and then the sand dunes," says Petersen. "If you turn your head, you will see the skyline of Toronto. So it's really a unique possibility to create a piece that is something in itself, but also takes in the city and relates to Toronto as well."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store