Fifty-Seven Films Guaranteed Survival
posted June 4, 2015
The National Film Preservation Foundation has announced awards to 57 films. The grants guarantee that the 32 institutions in 21 states that hold the films will be able to repair and preserve them through the creation of new negatives, film prints, and digital access copies.
A Scheme that Made Film Flourish Amidst Apartheid
posted May 17, 2015
A Cape Town production company is reviving a surprising flourishing of film-making featuring black actors and African languages in 1980s apartheid-era South Africa.
Why Deny Film to People in Prisons?
posted May 1, 2015
A fledgling archivist tackles a contentious issue: People who are incarcerated have access to books, so why shouldn't they also have meaningful access to moving-image media?
J. Fred MacDonald
posted April 22, 2015
One of the true originals of moving-image archiving, J. Fred MacDonald, has died. A longtime professor of history at Northeastern Illinois University until his retirement, he amassed one of the world’s largest personal collections of films of celebrated variety.
Houdini Spirited from a Movie Cache
posted April 15, 2015
"The Grim Game," one of five films featuring Harry Houdini the master escape artist, has reemerged — appropriately enough, from the wunderkammer of a prestidigitator.
Saving the audio-visual legacy of American academic research… Start the triage.
posted April 3, 2015
It's looking unlikely that more than a small percentage of the deteriorating audio-visual legacy of American academic research is going to be saved. Colleges, universities, and research institutions may provide a good test case of how the challenges of sifting and salvation could play out. Triage seems likely to be the order of the day.
The First Queen of Celebrity Gossip: Rona Barrett
posted April 1, 2015
Reelin' in the Years, a San Diego-based footage-licensing company, dusts off Rona Barrett's Hollywood interviews; those join the archives of David Frost and the Merv Griffin Show in the company's offerings, along with the music footage that was formerly Reelin's focus. More archive additions are on the way.
Twenty Five Recordings Named American Treasures
posted March 26, 2015
The US Library of Congress has announced this year’s 25 additions to its National Recording Registry, bringing the number of recordings on the listing of the country's key recordings to 425. The Registry serves to remind Americans that sound recordings, like audio-visual ones, require careful preservation, and that they’re something to marvel at and cherish.
New in the Public Domain
posted March 25, 2015
The new issue of the always diverting "Public Domain Review" is out, and this month has two moving-image-related items of interest.
Songs from Over the Top
posted March 4, 2015
Jayson Beaster-Jones argues that critics have barely noticed “perhaps the most distinctive feature of any Indian film: its songs,” and most glaring has been the “minimal, if any, discussion of musical sounds or the people who create these sounds.” He explains what has been missed.