Report to the U. S. Congress for the Year Ending December 31, 2011
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Report to the U.S. Congress for the Year Ending December 31, 2011 Created by the U.S. Congress to Preserve America’s Film Heritage Created by the U.S. Congress to Preserve America’s Film Heritage April 18, 2012 Dr. James H. Billington The Librarian of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540-1000 Dear Dr. Billington: In accordance with The Library of Congress Sound Recording and Film Preservation Programs Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-336), I submit to the U.S. Congress the 2011 Report of the National Film Preservation Foundation. When Congress created the NFPF 15 years ago, it put film preservation on the national agenda. At that time, only a handful of film archives had the capacity to save motion pictures documenting America’s history and culture. Now, thanks to federal funding secured by the Library of Congress and the contributions of the entertainment industry, organizations across all 50 states have joined the effort. Through the NFPF grant programs, 239 archives, libraries, and museums have rescued more than 1,870 films that might otherwise have been lost. These newsreels, documentaries, cartoons, silent-era works, avant-garde films, home movies, industrials, and independent productions are used in teaching and reach audiences everywhere through exhibition, television, video, and the Internet. Archives abroad are also a vital link in preserving America’s past. In the past three years, I’ve reported about our groundbreaking collaborations with Australia and New Zealand to save and make available American films that no longer survive in the United States. The initiatives have recovered remarkable treasures that had not been seen in our country for decades, including lost films by John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, and Mabel Normand. In 2011 alone, more than 100 silent-era films were repatriated thanks to the stewardship of the New Zealand Film Archive. It is our deepest hope that the goodwill engendered by these partnerships will pave the way for new projects with the international community. All these efforts are made possible by the generosity of dedicated supporters, and I’d like to salute several that made a special difference this past year: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Argyros Family Foundation, the Cecil B. De Mille Foundation, The Film Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Save America’s Treasures. Of course, I cannot close without thanking you for your indefatigable support. The NFPF’s programs grow from the vision and leadership of the Library of Congress, and we are proud to continue this work with you in the year ahead. Sincerely, Roger L. Mayer Chair, Board of Directors National Film Preservation Foundation REPORT TO THE U.S. CONGRESS FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2011 Contents 2 Film Preservation in All 50 States 4 Treasures 5 and Beyond 5 The New Zealand Connection 6 Appendixes One: Films Preserved through the NFPF Two: Financial Statements Three: Contributors Who We Are The National Film Preservation Foundation is the indepen- dent, nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America’s film heritage. Working with archives COVER IMAGE: Clara Bow in Mantrap and others who appreciate film, the NFPF supports activi- (Paramount Pictures, 1926), the spar- ties that save films for future generations, improve film kling wilderness comedy preserved by the Library of Congress and show- access for education and exhibition, and increase public cased in the NFPF’s DVD anthology commitment to preserving film as a cultural resource, art Treasures 5: The West, 1898-1938. form, and historical record. Established in 1996, the NFPF Considered by Bow her “best silent picture,” Mantrap is one of 40 films is the charitable affiliate of the National Film Preservation made available for the first time on Board of the Library of Congress. video through the latest Treasures set. NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION FOUNDATION Film Preservation in All 50 States 2011 Grant Recipients In creating the National Film Preservation Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Foundation, the U.S. Congress called on Allied Productions Americans to work together to save our American Dance Festival nation’s film heritage. Through The National Andy Warhol Museum Film Preservation Foundation Act of 1996, Anthology Film Archives Congress established a mechanism for Appalachian Mountain Club empowering cultural institutions across Appalshop the country to rescue historically important Archives of American Art films and share them with the public. Fifteen Arizona Historical Society years later, archives, libraries, and museums Olympiad (1971), by Lillian Schwartz. The computer ani- Bard College in every state have answered the call. More mation was preserved by Ohio State University through Carnegie Hall Archives than 1,870 films have been saved and made a Film Foundation–funded Avant-Garde Masters grant. Chicago Film Archives available through NFPF programs. The pres- Colorado State University–Pueblo ervation landscape has so dramatically donors. Congress has since increased the Country Music Hall of Fame changed that it is worth remembering how NFPF’s authorization twice, in 2005 and and Museum this came about. in 2008. Emory University In 1993, the Librarian of Congress Thanks to this far-sighted 1996 con- Folkstreams alerted Congress that motion pictures were gressional action, film preservation has George Eastman House disintegrating faster than archives could save taken root across all 50 states, the District Guggenheim Museum them. The works most at risk were not the of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Some 239 History Center of Traverse City Hollywood sound features seen in commer- institutions have preserved films through History Museum, Cascade County Historical Society cial theaters but culturally significant docu- programs built by the NFPF with federal Indiana University mentaries, silent-era works, home movies, support. The films are not only safeguarded Johns Hopkins University avant-garde films, newsreels, industrials, and for future generations but also made available Kartemquin Films independent productions that were hidden today through screenings, exhibits, DVDs, Los Angeles Filmforum away in nonprofit and public organizations broadcasts, and the Internet. Louisiana State Museum from coast to coast. This less visible film heri- The more than 100 films slated for Marist College tage documented communities, illustrated preservation through the 2011 grants demon- Maryland Historical Society travels, spun stories, argued causes, promoted strate the value of opening the playing field Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum products, and captured how Americans lived to organizations large and small. Among Medical University of South Carolina and worked. The films were our nation’s the highlights are John Ford’s home movies; Montana Historical Society history, told by the people who made it. performances by Duke Ellington and National Center for Jewish Film The problem was that only the largest Mahalia Jackson at the first New Orleans (continued on next page) organizations had the money and know-how Jazz & Heritage Festival; a George Wallace to save these irreplaceable resources. At the presidential campaign film; a 1925 news- request of Congress, the Library partnered reel profile of the Buffalo Soldiers of Fort with its National Film Preservation Board to Huachuca, Arizona; Robert Gardner’s find a solution. From their work grew a new portrait of the Boston Marathon; The Drums public-private collaboration, the National of Winter (1988), about the Yup’ik of Alaska; Film Preservation Foundation. Charged with a look inside the high-security facility that advancing the “preservation and accessibility printed U.S. paper money in 1915; and of the nation’s film heritage,” the NFPF home movies documenting post–Pearl received federal matching funds through the Harbor Honolulu, small-town life in South The Chicago Maternity Center Story Library of Congress to support preservation Dakota, and other subjects generally undocu- (1976), preserved by Kartemquin Films. projects and to serve as an incentive for mented by the mainstream media. 2 2011 REPORT Grants went to 60 public and nonprofit since become the centerpiece of an oral history institutions of varying sizes and specializations. campaign documenting this important chap- The awards were modest—the median cash ter of Montana history. amount was $6,650—and matched by the Although federal dollars fuel the NFPF recipients in staff time and other costs. At the grant program, every penny of operational conclusion of their projects, grant winners share costs comes from other sources. Generous viewing copies with the public and store the contributors—the Academy of Motion Picture Glimpses of Life among the Catawba preservation masters under conditions that will Arts and Sciences, the Argyros Family Foun- (1927), preserved by the University of protect them for years to come. Thus every dation, the Cecil B. De Mille Foundation, Pennsylvania with an NFPF grant. NFPF-supported project increases the number the Marmor Foundation, the James and of films available for education and enjoyment. Theodore Pedas Family Foundation, Com- Preserving a film can link a community. bined Federal Campaign donors, and many In the 1920s the economic powerhouse of more—fund our daily work. Laboratories and 2011 Grant Recipients Great Falls, Montana, was the Anaconda postproduction houses donate services for grant