EL CID Galas

The 1993 AFI International Film Festival is proud to open its seventh year with the U.S. premiere of the newly restored and lengthened El Cid, the 1961 epic drama masterpiece from director Anthony Mann, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. Released in restored form by Miramax Films, who learned with director Martin Scorsese (this is one of his favorite films), El Cid has 16 additional minutes of footage never before seen in America. The epic drama stars Heston as the legendary 11th Century knight El Cid, Rodrigo Diaz, who drove the Moors from Spain, while Loren plays his wife Chimene. Critic Penelope Gilliat calls El Cid “one of the purest and most beautiful myths that Hollywood has ever made.” Miramax acquired the negative from Paris-based Le Film 26, owned by Jean-Paul DeVidas, who restored both the film and soundtrack, and released the movie in France last year. The successful re-release of Spartacus and Lawrence of Arabia show that there is a real appetite here for intelligent films that are epic in scope,” said Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein.