At the beginning of July the Swiss and German James Bond clubs got together for a weekend in Cortina D’Ampezzo to celebrate the 35th anniversary of For Your Eyes Only.
The event was attended by special guests John Moreno (Luigi Ferrara), John Wyman (Erich Kriegler) and legendary stunt driver Rémy Julienne, responsible for the Citroen 2CV stunts. The weekend was conceived and organised by Markus Hartmann, president of the Swiss James Bond Club, along with Peter Hermann (Event Manager James Bond Club Switzerland), Thomas Stephan (Event Manager Germany) and Hansi Zweigle. You can read a full report here.
The first day started with a visit to the bob run with the bobsleigh used in shooting followed by a visit to the ice rink. As well as surprise guests and a Lotus Esprit Turbo there was also time set aside for Q&A sessions.
Day two included a visit to the ski jump, which was built for the 1956 Winter Olympics, Hotel Miramonti (with the sleigh used in filming and the Lotus again) and a gala dinner.
All photos were taken by Adrian Flütsch of Sundroina Pictures:
Markus explained how the event came into being:
From the original idea to the final realization it took over a year and a half. We knew from the start that we wanted to offer something special this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Swiss James Bond Club, founded in February 1996. My original idea was a combination of Cortina d’Ampezzo to coincide with the 35th anniversary of For Your Eyes Only together with some locations in Austria (Sölden, Obertilliach, Altaussee) from SPECTRE.
It looked liked a great idea, especially since it is only a 90 minute drive from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Obertilliach. However my friends convinced me after a while the logistics would be too difficult and it would be better to focus on just one location.
During our first visit in January we were impressed with all the locations that can still be visited (although in rather poor condition). With a lot of luck we managed to meet people who actually worked in the movie, which were more than happy to assist us in any way.. That was when we officially started with all the planning…
I should also add that i soon realised that this project might become even too big for a single club. That is the main reason I approached our dear friends from the German James Bond Club if they might be interested to join. Luckily they loved my idea.
Furthermore we introduced five additional surprise guests on different locations who worked in the movie as well. Those were some of my personal highlights as I wanted to surprise the participants with something – what I hoped – to become special. Luckily the reaction was as I hoped. They all had a great time and were more than delighted to meet some of them for the very first time (like Giorgio Degasper: “Amore, Amore” in his original outfit from the movie and sitting on the very original carriage he used in FYEO). Nothing similar has been done before in the last 35 years and most certainly won’t happen again.
To get a perfect photoshoot we put the beautiful Lotus Esprit (not the screen used one, but a a very nice replica by german Bond fan Hansi Zweigle) behind the carriage in front of the iconic Hotel Miramonti. To complete the feeling of beeing for a moment Bond and Melina we provided the same kind of clothes they were using in the movie.
It looks like a fantastic weekend despite the wet weather and everyone who attended had a great time. And don’t forget to check out the websites of the Swiss and German James Bond Clubs.
