A scene from the epic series All the Sails Up.

When Toate pînzele sus (All the Sails Up) was firrst screened on Romanian television in 1976, the reaction of the young audience was unparalleled. The epic series, which was based on Radu Tudoran's popular novel, was directed by Mircea Muresan. It followed the crew members of the Speranta as they struggled against fierce seas, pirates and deadly foes in their incredible journey half way around the world. One of the first Romanian adventure series for children and teenagers, it made their imaginations take flight. Now, thanks to processing carried out at Kodak Cinelabs Romania, TVR Media has edited a DVD version of Toate pînzele sus which is now available.

Producer Andrei Enescu explains: "The release of this series on DVD was the long-term wish of Televiziunea Româna's (TVR) media team. The quest to find the film in the television archive wasn't easy and when Editor Rodica Pavel finally discovered it, the journey was far from over. Although it was well preserved, improvements were needed so that it would meet the expectations of a 21st century audience used to high quality products. The Kodak Cinelabs Romania team added the touches needed and enabled us to realise our dream."

KODAK IMAGECARE Program-accredited Kodak Cinelabs Romania, the first Kodak-owned and operated front-end lab for motion picture imaging, employs 32 production and sales staff. With a combination of traditional methods of film processing and continuously upgraded Digital Intermediate (DI) technology, they are ready to assist cinematographers to express their creativity far beyond former technical limitations.

Impeccably preserved negative

Manager Cornelia Popa discusses her experience of handling 60,000 feet of first generation 35mm Kodak negative. "Toate pînzele sus was a complex film and an act of courage on our part, but we were extremely enthusiastic about such a special project. It was amazing that after so long the texture of the negative was impeccably preserved. The colour fidelity was fantastic, the images were clean and the sharpness, detail and shadows were all great."

Technician at Kodak Cinelabs Romania

"Almost all our departments were involved in the negative preparation," she continues. "Dana Cioplea and her team carefully spliced the negative and checked every perforation, then technicians Vasile Saidal and Adrian Pascale machine-cleaned it with a special solution. We worked on the colour correction and the co-producers assisted with a full telecine transfer to DigiBeta using the Spirit, a Pandora Pogle PiXi system and a Philips VS-4 noise/dirt reducer before we added the sound."

Toate pînzele sus reminded Colourist Catalin Miloiu of his childhood summer holidays when he watched the series on national television. "I was amazed from the beginning by the quality of the negative, the lack of grain and the great colour preservation, which helped me a lot during the colour corrections. It was a real pleasure to work on the project." Grading department supervisor Gina Stoica states: "The film stock's performance and the professionalism of director of photography Nicu Stan assured us of the best possible original image quality."

"The whole process took around three weeks, but we all enjoyed it," says Popa. "It was important that we were successful because it demonstrated Kodak's openmindedness as well as the preservation capabilities and versatility of its stock. Co-producers Andrei Enescu, Rodica Pavel and Ioana Bogdan put a lot of soul and love into the project and they are very happy with the outcome. The official re-launch with the original actors and crew was momentous."

Toate pînzele sus, the series that made Romanian television history, is bringing childhood memories flooding back to many 40-somethings who were once transfixed by its tales of derring do. At last children will begin to understand why their parents were so excited about the release of this special DVD as they enjoy the series themselves.

Kodak Cinelabs Romania proudly acknowledges Toate pînzele sus as one of its most important projects to date and is actively seeking to assist television stations to rediscover the glory of their archived films. Pistruiatul is already lined up for specialist treatment.