Ongoing

Celluloid

Films in razor-sharp 35mm and 70mm formats

These days, films are shown in almost all cinemas in the standard DCP format. This digital form of projection has made film distribution much easier and cheaper. However, the image quality of digital projection still doesn't compare to analogue film: a fresh 35mm film print is equivalent to 6K in the digital world, while most cinema films are projected digitally in 2K or 4K.

The cinema halls at Eye Filmmuseum are not only equipped with modern digital projectors; analogue films on 35mm and 70mm film strips are also regularly shown. This makes Eye one of the few remaining cinemas where you can still experience film on celluloid. And that's special, because the viewing experience of analogue film remains unparalleled.

Because 70mm is twice as wide as 35mm, it allows for much more detail on the big screen. If you were to express 70mm film in pixels, we would quickly be talking about at least 12K. Add to that the rich analogue colour palette (with more vibrant colours and deeper blacks) and the beauty of the grainy film texture, and voilà: a unique cinematic experience. Film as it was meant to be.

Aspect ratio

The size of the film strip does not necessarily say anything about the aspect ratio in which the film is projected. Today, 16:9 (1.78:1) is a standard ratio for film, while 4:3 (1.33:1) used to be a popular format. The 70mm print of The Brutalist has a ratio of 1.66:1, which is also known as European widescreen. Although the carrier does not necessarily say anything about the aspect ratios or the size of the projection, it does by definition say something about the sharpness of the image and the saturation of the colours, because a larger negative can capture more light and more details.

“When you shoot on film, you're not capturing motion, but a sequence of still images. However, when you run 24 frames per second past a light source, it creates the illusion of movement. So when you watch an analogue film, you're watching an illusion. And for me, that illusion is tied to the magic of cinema.”

Quentin Tarantino

16mm is also a unique and widely used analogue film format. It has existed for more than 100 years, and its development enabled amateurs to film on their own, leading to the rise of home movies. With the handy 16mm camera, you could go out into the streets and improvise. Filmmaking thus became more accessible to documentary makers and artists. Also as a low-budget cinema film, 16mm performed well. The coarse grain and the raw optical sound all contributed to the feel and experience of this narrow strip of film.

Watch 16mm-films at home

You can watch a large number of films shot on 16mm on the Eye Film Player, including classics by Johan van der Keuken and Louis van Gasteren.

To the Eye Film Player

Want to know more about different film formats? Our collection specialists explain it all.

Films on celluloid

These films are currently showing or coming soon at Eye on celluloid:

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