Moonwalk One film producer landing in Stromness

Stromness’ West Side Cinema will be welcoming a very special guest as part of this year’s Orkney International Science Festival.

The screening of Moonwalk One: The Director’s Cut, due to take place on September 8, will be attended by producer Christopher Riley who will share his thoughts of working with director Theo Kamecke to create this unique version of the film.

The original documentary Moonwalk One was commissioned by NASA to cover the world’s most famous space mission in 1969, where astronauts orbited into history by being the first humans to land on the moon.

Director Theo Kamecke had a vision for the film — to create something that would mark the historic, philosophical and epic nature of this greatest of endeavours. Made with footage culled from up to 240 cameras that captured both the initial launch and the nine-day mission that followed, the film is a vital scientific document, a portrait of late ’60s America and a visually cogent exploration of man’s place in the universe.

With an original score by Charles Morrow and a commanding narration by Laurence Luckinbill, the documentary won a special award at the Cannes Film Festival. However, for the next few decades, it was practically forgotten; even the original printing elements were lost.

Christopher Riley is a film producer, director and writer specialising in science, engineering and history. His work has been celebrated by BAFTA, the US Television Academy, the Royal Television Society, the Sundance Institute and the Grierson Trust.

He is a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper and presents science documentaries for BBC Radio 4. In 2007 he tracked down Theo Kamecke — who was working as a sculptor in upstate New York — and found that he held the only remaining 35mm print. Working closely with Theo, Moonwalk One was re-mastered, combining a unique 35mm director’s cut with newly transferred 16mm NASA flight film media, to create a new HD digital master of the film.

This will be the first chance to see the new high-definition Blu-ray version of the film which is due to be released next year.

Moonwalk One: The Director’s Cut is on at West Side Cinema, Stromness Town Hall, Saturday, September 8 at 7.45pm. The film has been programmed to coincide with #skyranMOON and the Museum Of The Moon at Stromness Academy.