Widescreen Weekend

Prices apply to all Widescreen Weekend screenings (including IMAX) with the exception of Kids’ Club. Tickets for Kids’ Club screenings are priced at £3 each (families with children only; unaccompanied adults will not be admitted).

• Tickets for this edition of Widescreen Weekend are sold individually; there are no festival passes
• All seating is unallocated; specific seats cannot be reserved in advance
• If you are a Pictureville Member, you are welcome to use your discount on Widescreen Weekend tickets
• Concessions are available to those under 15, over 60, anyone receiving disability benefits, income support or Job Seekers’ Allowance, students in possession of an NUS card, and Passport to Leisure card holders
• If you would like to visit the museum’s exhibitions and galleries in addition to a film screening, you will need to book a separate free museum admission ticket (tickets are available to book two weeks before the date)
• Museum and cinema health and safety precautions apply to all Widescreen Weekend screenings. You can see details of health and safety measures on our cinema information page
• There will be no delegate desk; if you have an enquiry, please speak to our Box Office staff or a member of the festival team

Technically, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 ‘Academy ratio’ of 35mm film. Widescreen Weekend celebrates the really wide formats developed in the 1950s and 1960s to create a whole new cinema experience.

The higher the first number in the aspect ratio, the more we love it! You won’t see a film at Widescreen Weekend narrower than 2.2:1, and you can luxuriate in the widest of vistas in both archive epics and modern classics.

Cinerama is a widescreen process that projects film simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, creating one image. It was the first of a number of processes introduced during the ‘widescreen war’ of the 1950s, when the film industry had to compete against television.

Our Pictureville theatre is one of only three in the world that can still show Cinerama in the way it was originally presented to audiences. A Cinerama film forms part of the programme at Widescreen Weekend each year.

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Contact details

Enquiries: Rebecca Hill, Festival Events Manager
01274 202 031 / rebecca.hill@scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk

Festival Director: Kathryn Penny
01274 203 006 / kathryn.penny@scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk

Press and PR Manager: Katie Canning
01274 203 027 / katie.canning@scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk

Support us

Find out about corporate sponsorship opportunities at Widescreen Weekend.