Here it is, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”, the first documentary film in stereoscopic 3D that is targeted at – let’s put it – more sophisticated art house audiences, and hopefully it paves the way for many more films to come, including our little project here. Directed by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog (whose wonderful documentary “Encounters at the End of the World” already is one of the inspirational sources for THE AMERICAN BACKROOM) “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” leads us into the caves of Chauvent-Pont-d’Arc in France, famous for its extensive cave paintings. Since said cave is not open to the public, I guess you could call it utterly fantastic that Herzog chose stereoscopic 3D to capture images from inside.

The bad news is, so far there are no known theatrical release dates. And considering the numbers of smaller art house movie theaters in Germany that are actually able to screen a digital 3D documentary, I don’t see much hope for it being released in the near future. I’m afraid major theater chains won’t even consider it. It’s a pity. I can only speak for Germany right now, but there is an ongoing (and neverending) discussion about adding and financing digital projection systems to smaller theaters – and right now it seems that the digital revolution on art house screens over here has failed.

Back to “Cave” that premiered last night at the Toronto International Film Festival, and IndieWire got one of the first reviews:

Herzog naturally plays up the enigma at hand with epic grandeur, occasionally overdoing it but usually hitting the mark. Introducing the setting with a majestic crane shot (particularly immersive in 3-D), his camera soars above the cave and surveys the desolate landscape. Unleashing cosmic observations about “the abyss of time” and the like, Herzog ventures into the darkness with his small team, carefully illuminating the 35,000-year-old artwork within. The profoundly magical aura of the footage ranges from charcoal etchings of animals in motion (“almost like a form of proto-cinema”) to hints of attempts at self-portraiture (“as if the human soul was awakened within them”).

Head on over to IndieWire for the full review.

Gerold von DigitaleLeinwand.de berichtet von \"Cave of Forgotten Dreams\", dem ersten 3D Dokumentarfilm für das anspruchsvolle Arthaus Publikum, der hoffentlich auch Wegbereiter ist für weitere stereoskopische 3D-Projekte, THE AMERICAN BACKROOM eingeschlossen. Regie-Veteran Werner Herzog, der schon mit seiner wunderbaren Doku \"Encounters at the End of the World\" eine der Inspirationsquellen für THE AMERICAN BACKROOM ...