Film Archivists Preserve Accounts of What COVID-19 Has Wrought
posted June 12, 2020
How is the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting film archivists and archives? Christopher Dupin, who as Senior Administrator runs the day-to-day operations of the International Federation of Film Archivists, wants to know: “Being an historian, myself, I always think about the future and what we want historians in 20 or 30 years to remember about this."
Any Day is a Good Day for Smelling Movies
posted May 6, 2020
Late March was to have been Tammy Burnstock’s big moment in smelling movies. Yes, smelling them. For months, the Australian filmmaker and TV producer had been preparing for the premiere of her documentary film In Glorious Smell-O-Vision!: The True Story of the Godfather of Scented Cinema. It was to have been screened along with a great deal of olfactory frolicking.
Funding for Recordings at Risk
posted May 4, 2020
Films of American roots musicians and pioneers of atmospheric research, and as well as home movies about flying, are among many historical records that will be preserved thanks to this year’s Recordings at Risk awards from the Council on Library and Information Resources. In the seventh of its award rounds, the CLIR has granted more than $650,000 to 19 preservation projects, bringing the total projects assisted by the fund to 109.
Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives
posted January 9, 2020
Collections relating to public-broadcasting and other audiovisual collections are among 18 projects that have been granted 2019 Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives Awards from The Council on Library and Information Resources.
2019 National Film Registry Additions Announced
posted December 12, 2019
United States Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced the annual addition of influential American motion pictures to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Twenty five films are being added for their cultural, historic, and aesthetic importance: Among them are blockbusters, documentaries, silent movies, animation, and independent films.
NFPF Awards Grants to 35 Institutions
posted August 23, 2019
The National Film Preservation Foundation has announced grants to 35 institutions to save 74 films. Since Congress created the NFPF in 1996, the agency has provided preservation support through grants and collaborative projects to 304 institutions to preserve 2,478 films. The preservation grants target newsreels, silent-era films, home movies, avant-garde films, and endangered independent productions that are unlikely to be preserved by commercial programs.
Australia’s NFSA Receives Copy of Moon Landing Broadcast
posted July 2, 2019
As the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo moon landing approaches, Australia’s national science agency has donated one of only three known official copies of television film footage of the event to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. It is the only copy held outside the United States.
Denmark Breathes Life into the Original Nordic Noir
posted June 3, 2019
The Danish Film Institute has launched a major effort to preserve and disseminate the country’s silent-film output. With 30 million Danish kroner (about $US4.5-million) from three foundations, the Institute has begun to digitize the whole of the remaining early movie heritage. That amounts to some 415 titles from the “golden age of Danish silent film” — about 350 hours of viewing — that archivists at the Institute are digging out of storage to restore, preserve, and disseminate through screenings and online postings.
Library Council Awards Grants to Nine Audiovisual Collections
posted May 2, 2019
The Council on Library and Information Resources, an independent, nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that works to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institution, and communities of higher learning, has awarded its Recordings at Risk grants to 20 institutions. Among the 20 awards, 9 relate to audiovisual collections, and they range in value from $10,908 to $50,000.
The Huntley Footage Service Goes Blogging
posted April 13, 2019
To publicize a film-archive service, a well-written, attractively presented blog may serve as well as a paid advertisement. The Huntley Film Archives, based in rural Herefordshire, has recently begun to take that route to spreading the word about its holdings, and its blog — The Voice from the Vaults — makes for fascinating reading whether or not you are looking to buy film clips.