Reg. Trib. Milano n. 418 del 02.07.2007
Direttore responsabile: Elisabetta Brunella

 
 
 
  International Edition No. 70 - year 6 - 29 June 2011

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From the eighth edition of the course
“DigiTraining Plus: European Cinemas Experiencing New Technologies”

Helsinki and Tallinn
29 June - 3 July 2011

- daily update -
 

The Auditorium of the Finnish Film Foundation is the venue that today, 29 June, hosts the opening session of the DigiTraining Plus course organized by MEDIA Salles for the eighth consecutive year.
Repeating the positive experience of 2010, Helsinki welcomes forty participants this year: they come from 11 nations, from Estonia to the Czech Republic, from Poland to Italy, together with a numerous group of operators from Finland.
Today the spotlight is on the Finnish path to digitalization which, based both on intervention by the institutions and on private investments by the leading exhibition and distribution companies, has led to over 50% of the countries’ screens being equipped with digital projectors. “By the end of 2011, I foresee this rising to 70%,” states Harri Ahokas, head of distribution for the Finnish Film Foundation, the engine of transition to the new technology, “since the experience we have gained so far has demonstrated that because of its reliability and user-friendliness, digital is the way to go for the development of cinema. The next objective will be to increase availability of content, so as to offer increasingly varied and flexible programming. Since 2010 the vast majority of Finnish films have also been distributed in digital format and in 2011 almost all of them will be. We trust that it will be the same for films coming from other European countries.”
Talking of films, the evening event will be “Steam of life”, the documentary shot in the place most symbolic of Finnish lifestyle: the sauna. From the wooden benches in saunas scattered throughout the country, naked men tell their life stories, letting their sentiments and their emotions flow: cleaning the body and cleansing the soul.
Mika Hotakainen, one of the two directors, will be present at the screening of the documentary, which reached the finals of the European Film Awards and is being projected exclusively for the participants at DigiTraining Plus by Riitta Haapiainen, the Auditorium’s passionate manager, proud of her cinema which is able to project from 35 mm to digital 3D, including live events. Who said that it’s only the men who appreciate the new technologies?

Programme 29 June

Afternoon – Finnish Film Foundation
 
Opening session
 
Mike Vickers – Treasurer of MEDIA Salles
Irina Krohn – Director FFF

Presentation of the course structure
by Anthony Williams, moderator

Harri Ahokas – Head of Distribution FFF
Tero Koistinen – Finnish Film Chamber

The Finnish experience of digitalization.
Digital techniques: a new opportunity for documentaries
on the big screen?
 
Screening of the Finnish documentary “Steam of Life”, finalist at the European Film Awards 2010

 
(click here to see the course programme)
 

MEDIA Salles’ contacts and address

MEDIA Salles
Piazza Luigi di Savoia, 24 – 20124 Milano - Italy
Tel.: +39.02.67397823– Fax: +39.02.6690410
E-mail: infocinema@mediasalles.it
Sito web: www.mediasalles.it