A 29-minute German/Spanish short Aizea: City Of The Wind becomes the first European film to use the DTS/16mm sound technology when it premieres this week at the Hollywood Film Festival in Los Angeles.

The system, pioneered by Digital Theatre Systems (DTS), combines DTS 5.1 six channel digital surround sound with 16mm film stock, which has traditionally been limited to mono sound. Aizea was mixed in Munich, Germany, by Giesing Team, one of the country's foremost sound studios.

The film was written and directed by Spain's Ione Hernandez and produced by Germany's Ralf Weinfurtner. Backed by the Basque Film Fund and the Bavaria Film Fund, it is based on a Mexican legend in which a woman falls in love with a stranger only to have him whisked away by a mystical wind during their wedding ceremony.

Among the cast are Laura Bayonas, Jeremy West, Vira Montes and Dantes Sivilla. The film will also screen at the upcoming Palm Springs International Short Film Festival and will have its European premiere at the Hof International Film Festival in Germany in Oct 2001.