An Introduction To Film Preservation On The Internet

by Michael Jortner

What if you could never see your favorite film again because it had deteriorated into dust or soupy gunk? Indeed, according to the American Film Institute, "of the more than 21,000 feature-length films produced in the United States before 1951 [when safety film replaced highly flammable nitrate stock], only half exist today." When you consider American films made pre-1929 the survival rate is about 10%. These dismal statistics concern films the world over.

The fact is that film stock and videotape are perishable. Eventually all moving images on these formats will disintegrate, even the films that are showing in theaters right now. Fortunately, film preservationists and archivists all over the world are working diligently to rescue, catalog, store, and make available for research and viewing all different kinds of films and videos.

We have assembled a sampling of links to film preservation and archival organizations below. Beneath each link is a brief summary about the organization, its work, goals, activities, moving image holdings, and website. This list is by no means comprehensive. So below it is our short list of links to other links pages that will provide you with dozens more connections to archives and preservation societies worldwide.

Aside from stock footage libraries which are able to survive on licensing revenues, most preservation and archive organizations are non-profit institutions. One way you can help to keep our moving image heritage alive is to make a donation to the facility of your choice.

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"Film Preservation & You" and the PopcornQ Film Preservation Links were compiled by PopcornQ Intern Michael Jortner.

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