Saving the Film Festival

The Regent Theatre’s future as a cinema venue was under threat until the Otago Community Trust helped purchase new digital film equipment this year.

New Zealand theatres have been converting to Digital Cinema Projection (DCP) since 2007, but the pace of change to digital film accelerated vastly over the last two years, meaning very few traditional 35 mm reel films were available. 

The Otago Theatre Trust had to invest in the DCP equipment to ensure the survival of events such as the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Mountain Film Festival, and so that other theatre users could continue to screen images and movie clips in their productions.

Installing it was a large undertaking, but the Theatre is now well equipped for the future needs of users, and very grateful for the Community Trust’s assistance.