'Lord Of The Rings' Director Peter Jackson To Helm Colorized World War 1 Documentary
Peter Jackson is switching his attention from epic fantasy works to one of greatest tragedies of our time. The "Lord of the Rings" director is reportedly making a new feature documentary about World War I to mark the centennial of the war's end.
With his production company WingNut Films, Jackson will 3D digitize and hand colorize never-before-seen footage mined through the archives of London's Imperial War Museum. Audio will also be added from the BBC archives with Jackson using modern production techniques to restore the footage.
The film is organized under the banner "14-18 NOW" with the support of British lottery funding, the Arts Council, and government's department of culture. According to Jackson, the film will bring to life the real stories of people who lived through the 1914-18 conflict which at the time was referred to as "the war to end all wars."
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"We're making a film [that is] not the usual film you would expect on the First World War. We're making a film that shows this incredible footage in which the faces of the men just jump out at you," Jackson said. "It's the people that come to life in this film."
The yet unnamed project will premiere as part of the British Film Institute's London Film Festival in the fall and will be screened in theaters all across the UK. BBC One will also air the documentary which will include interviews with Jackson about the filmmaking process and a "making-of" documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage.
A copy of the film will also be distributed to every secondary school in Britain. The key aim of the project is to help younger generations understand the events of a century ago with BBC Content Chief Charlotte Moore saying the documentary will "bring unheard voices from a hundred years ago to life for a whole new generation to experience."
