Just think about the following facts:
Over 80% of all silent films are lost FOREVER;
Nearly half of all the films ever made (up to and including the present day) are lost FOREVER.
Film is not only a wonderful form of entertainment and amusement for us all, but it is an indelible marker of our culture and society, too. It is a legacy that we leave for future generations to understand who we were and where we were, frozen for that particular moment in time.
Please take a moment to look at this short video about the Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
The Center, located in Hamlin, Pennsylvania, comprises two buildings on a 38-acre estate. This includes a 7,900-square-foot facility for the Museum’s holdings of 5,000 fragile nitrate films, dating from 1894 to 1951; and a much larger 28,000-square-foot main building that houses some 9,000 titles on acetate-based “safety stock.”
To find out more about film preservation in general, please check out these resources:
National Film Preservation Foundation
National Film Preservation Board (Library of Congress)
Women’s Film Preservation Fund
Film Preservation in the Digital Age (article)
le0pard13 says
April 16, 2012 at 12:12 pmGreat post and a truly worthy subject. Well done.
le0pard13 recently posted..TMT: A Planet of Our Own
iluvcinema says
April 16, 2012 at 12:20 pmThanks! I was watching the piece from MoMA and it made me think that so much more should be done regarding word of mouth. At one point in my life I actually wanted to be a film preservationist/archivist 🙂 May very well pick it up at some point!
Pete says
April 16, 2012 at 3:37 pmThose are some crazy stats. I’ll have to look into how the UK’s BFI archive their films. I’m curious now.
Pete recently posted..Movie Icons: A Very Interactive Post
iluvcinema says
April 16, 2012 at 3:39 pmhttp://www.bfi.org.uk/live/video/401
ruth says
April 16, 2012 at 6:21 pmOh my, that stats is heartbreaking. Great post on a very important subject, Iba.
ruth recently posted..Weekend Viewing Roundup and Battleship (2012) guest review
iluvcinema says
April 16, 2012 at 9:31 pmReally sad, isn’t it 🙁
Nostra says
April 19, 2012 at 8:26 amIt’s very important work. Don’t know if you have, but you should check out the documentary “These Amazing Shadows”, which also deals with the subject (you can find my review of it here http://myfilmviews.com/2012/01/25/these-amazing-shadows-2011/)
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iluvcinema says
April 19, 2012 at 8:48 amNope but I will be adding it to my reading list. Thanks Nostra!