NFPF News

Play/Back: A National Endowment for the Humanities Symposium on Preserving Audiovisual Heritage

On Friday, Sept. 30, archivists, librarians, and scholars will be attending Play/Back, a one day symposium held in Washington D.C. Held by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Play/Back calls attention—through panels, breakout sessions, and keynote addresses—to the preservation of America’s audiovisual heritage of audio, video, and film recordings.

The NFPF’s executive director Jeff Lambert served on the programming committee of this year’s symposium, which includes panels on “Appraising our Audiovisual Heritage”—a consideration of “where the gaps in the audiovisual record may be, whether in terms of underrepresented groups, genres, or media formats”—and “Developing a Framework for Action: How to Ensure the Persistence and Quality of the Audiovisual Record,” which addresses “the successes and setbacks in getting collaborative projects … Read more

Lighter Than Air, Larger Than Life: The U.S.S. Akron Onscreen

Construction of the U.S.S. Akron, captured on film by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and preserved by the University of Akron with an NFPF grant.

The deadliest airship disaster in history was not the crash of the Hindenburg but the U.S.S. Akron, which claimed the lives of 73 crew members (nearly twice the body count of the Hindenburg disaster). Unlike the famous German zeppelin, the Akron’s demise was not immortalized on film, but its birth was, thanks to the motion picture department of its builder, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

In 1928 Goodyear, in partnership with the German company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, won a U.S. Navy contract to manufacture two rigid airships, to be designed by Luftschiffbau engineers led by the renowned Dr. Karl Arnstein. The first of these dirigibles, launched on Sept. 23, 1931, was the U.S.S. Akron. 785 feet long and with gas … Read more

Recently Completed Preservation Projects: Wayne State University Historic Films

A spirited game of pushball between WSU freshmen and sophomores captured on film in 1925.

Perhaps the most satisfying moment of a film preservation project is its completion, when an archivist can rest assured that the films are finally safeguarded. Fresh from the lab, the movies are now accessible to researchers and can be screened or digitized for the general public. The most recent example is Wayne State University’s preservation of two films shot on its campus (and in Detroit) in 1925 and 1932. Preserved through a 2015 NFPF Federal Grant, the footage provides an unvarnished, non-Hollywood look at what college life was like more than 80 years ago, with freshman vs. sophomore games (bloodshed included), a “Freshman Frolic,” Christmas festivals, costumed dances (one attendee is dressed as “the Forgotten Man,” a reference to a 1932 speech by President … Read more

Arthur Hiller (1923–2016)

Arthur Hiller (right) with Roger Mayer.

The NFPF joins the film community in mourning Arthur Hiller, who passed away on August 17 at the age of 92. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, and after working in Canadian and American television he went on to direct celebrated and popular films such as The Americanization of Emily (1964), The Out of Towners (1970), Love Story (1970), The Hospital (1971), Silver Streak (1976), and The In-Laws (1979). He served as president of the Directors Guild of America from 1989–93 and of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from 1993–97. In 2002 he received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Mr. Hiller was devoted to the cause of film preservation. He was a founding member of the National Film Preservation Board, serving from 1989 to 2005, and was a friend and ally of Roger Mayer, the founding Chairman … Read more

Pioneers of African American Cinema

The Blood of Jesus (1941), directed by Spencer Williams.

A collection of foundational works of African American cinema will become available to the public on July 26, when the Blu-Ray/DVD set Pioneers of African American Cinema will be released by Kino Lorber. Comprised of twenty hours of footage on five discs, starting with shorts from over a 100 years ago, the set will be of special value to scholars and historians, since these important films have been difficult to view, especially in good quality.

In the first decades of African American cinema independently produced “race films” were made for black audiences. Between 1915 and 1952 more than 500 of them were made in the United States and shown in more than 1000 movie theaters, most of which were segregated. Because “race films” were made outside Hollywood they presented African American characters who were not stereotypical servants or comic … Read more