- New version to premiere at Berlinale 2014
- Thomas Rabe: preservation of important European cinematic heritage
The restoration, whose main sponsor is Bertelsmann, marks the first time that all the historic material handed down is being used. The musical accompaniment will be newly designed; ZDF has commissioned the U.S. jazz musician John Zorn, known for his avant-garde arrangements. The restored version of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” will be premiered in the Grand Ballroom of Berlin’s Philharmonie on 9 February 2014 at the 64th International Film Festival in Berlin. The Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek is a co-sponsor of the presentation at the Berlinale Classics.
“Bertelsmann has a long tradition in film, and the preservation of Europe’s film heritage is a priority for the company,” says Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe. “Facilitating the restoration of a jewel of film history like ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ fits well with this.” He pointed out that since 2011, Bertelsmann has hosted the annual “UFA Filmnächte” (“UFA Film Nights”), open-air screenings of silent movie classics accompanied by live music, adding that the event has developed into a real crowd-pleaser.
The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation has been digitally restoring “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” since the beginning of the year, in cooperation with partners including a specialized replication lab in Bologna. Past versions of the movie are based on various contemporary rental copies that show according wear and tear and loss of photographic quality. The previously unused negative from the German Federal Film Archive (Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv) now offers the possibility of creating a new version of the movie with significantly improved image quality. Digital restoration makes it possible to produce a digital master of the movie, which is suitable for all forms of exploitation including DVD and Blu-ray, TV broadcast and distribution in movie theaters.
