SIDE BY SIDE

Never in a million years would I have thought that Keanu Reeves would lead the important discussion of the future of film in the Digital Age. I was totally wrong. SIDE BY SIDE proves it.

In Christopher Kenneally's engaging documentary about 35mm vs. digital practices and the current epochal shift occurring with motion picture exhibition, that is precisely what he does.

SIDE BY SIDE is a documentary that boasts unprecedented access to the film community, featuring the likes of Martin Scorsese, Walter Murch, David Lynch, George Lucas, James Cameron, newcomer Lena Dunham, and many more, alternately waxing poetic and speaking fatalistically about 35mm as the exhibition standard of yesteryear. In the course of these discussions, Reeves and others take into account the unquestionable need to archive 35mm film materials alongside embracing digital technology, the unique challenges inherent to each, and how best to educate a world in the midst of a gargantuan exhibition standard transition.

Anyone who has even the slightest interest in the conversation of film versus digital ought to see this picture. It has an extraordinary power to begin conversations and serious debates on this topic -- and that is precisely its purpose. SIDE BY SIDE is a balanced look at both formats, allowing each to speak for itself in the guise of their respective filmmaker champions. The viewer must then decide for his/herself what digitality means for film's future. (Sam Prime)