The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
& NYU Cinema Studies
present
& NYU Cinema Studies
present
Friday, May 10, 2013
Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason (1967)
newly restored by the Academy Film Archive & Milestone Films
Randy Haberkamp (AMPAS) introduction of special guests:
Critic Elvis Mitchell (moderator) with Robert Fiore (assistant on Jason),
Dennis Doros (Milestone), and Oscar-winning filmmakers
Rob Epstein (Academy Board of Governors) and Jeffrey Friedman.
"Academy Discussions" offers this video excerpt.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
INTRODUCTIONS
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May Haduong (Academy Film Archive)
Dan Streible (NYU / Orphan Film Symposium and Academy Scholar)
Building the Hollywoodland Sign (Fox newsreel footage, 1923) 35mm print: University of South Carolina Moving Image Research Collections
Helen Hill home movie, New Orleans, + camera test (2003-04) b/w, color
Source: Center for Home Movies and the filmmaker's estate.
FEMALE-NARRATED TRAILERS from the Packard Humanities Institute Collection
Tessa Idlewine & Cassie Blake (Academy Film Archive) Helga (1967), Malibu High (1979), and Tomboy (1985)
TRIBUTE to FILMMAKER LES BLANK (1935 - April 7, 2013)
Running Around Like a Chicken with Its Head Cut Off (1960) 16mm, b/w
His first student film at the University of Southern California. Cast: Les and Gail Blank, Pieter Van Deusen. Preserved by Academy Film Archive.
+
Oh My God! It’s Harrod Blank (David Silberberg, 2008) DVD, excerpt in which Les talks about his early career as an industrial filmmaker-for-hire
LARGE FORMAT: EXPO 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal featured innovative, experimental, and large-format films.
Josef Lindner (Academy Film Archive) with A Place to Stand (1967) Produced in 70mm for the Expo’s Ontario Pavilion; Oscar for Live action short: restored by the Academy.
Walter Forsberg (above, left; NYU Libraries) introduces an excerpt from The Shape of Films to Come (CBS, 1968) 16mm, preserved by the Academy. Walter Cronkite narrates the supposed future of the multi-screen experience through films produced for Expo 67.
+ Forsberg digital compilation of 16mm home movies shot at the Expo (1967-68) shown alongside Super 8 footage he shot on the same locations in 2004.
SMALL FORMAT: AMATEUR FILMS REFRAMED
Whether purposefully shot amateur works or modest home movies, small-gauge films far outnumber theatrical motion pictures. When preserved, they provide a wide array of perspectives on the past.
Lynne Kirste (Academy Film Archive)
a 35mm San Francisco home movie (Herman Barfield, 1917)
Descendants of filmmaker Herman Barfield being acknowledged by Lynn Kirste. (Photo: AMPAS)
Baseball at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles (Richard Brooks, Nov. 7, 1948, 16mm Kodachrome) Satchel Paige (then of MLB Cleveland Indians; age 42) pitches for the Royals, a barnstorming team of Negro League players. The Gene Bearden-Bob Lemon All-Stars (from the Cleveland Indians) oppose.
Todd Wiener (UCLA Film & Television Archive)
footage of the Hollywood Gay Pride Parade (Pat Rocco, 1971)
Rick Prelinger (Prelinger Library & Archives) "Remaking the Archive with Home Movies"
+ excerpts from his work in progress, No More Road Trips?
 |
| from a home movie maker's visit to Dealey Plaza, Dallas (1965) [cell phone snapshots of Rick's clips] |
TWO SILENT REDISCOVERIES: music by Michael Mortilla
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Jeff Lambert (NFPF) The Love Charm (1928) two-color system Technicolor, shot by Harry Renahan. Restored by and repatriated to George Eastman House; nitrate material from the New Zealand Film Archive. Part of the NFPF project "Lost and Found: New Zealand."
Snowden Becker (UCLA) The Bishop of Hollywood (Fred Caldwell, 1924) Previous lost short from the five-film series produced by "Hollywood Comedies." Preserved by the Academy.
HEY, L.A.
Mark Quigley (UCLA Film & Television Archive) introduces
Hey Mama (Vaughn Obern, 1969) UCLA student documentary about Black Venice
Jacqueline Stewart (Northwestern) and artist S. Pearl Sharp discuss a series of short 'wraparounds' called Lead-In, which Sharp produced (and hosted on screen) for Black Entertainment Television (Saundra Sharp and Thom Eubank, 1981). Lead-In guests included Dr. Henry Hampton (physicist and pioneering historian of "race movies"), Ron O'Neal (Super Fly), and Max Julien (The Mack, Cleopatra Jones).
CORPORATE ORIENTATION
The cinematic artistry of in-house industrial productions and sponsored films.
Showley Brothers Candy Factory (1924) Source: San Diego History Center. Preserved by the Academy with a grant from NFPF.
Ralph Sargent (Film Technology Co.) introduces a film he directed (uncredited) for the IBM chairman's address to stockholders: Transformations (1968).
Sean Savage (Academy Film Archive) with a version of A New Look for the Bell System (Saul Bass, 1969), re-edited by Bass himself for his own teaching purposes.
 |
| Savage demonstrates how big the screen is in the Dunn Theater. |
Jan-Christopher Horak (UCLA Film & Television Archive and Academy Film Scholar)
From Here to There (Saul Bass, 1964), presented by United Airlines at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
Priya Jaikumar (USC) introduces Two (A Film Fable) (Satyajit Ray, 1964), a short telefilm produced for the syndicated TV series Esso World Theatre. Also known as Parable of the Two. Introduction includes a clip from Jalsaghar (The Music Room), (Satyajit Ray, 1958).
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Pre-show: Countdown snipes, 35mm reel courtesy of Walter Forsberg
ORPHAN OUTLIERS
10 short film from off the map and under the radar (if not beyond the pale)
When the Organ Played “Oh Promise Me” (Cecil Stokes, ca. 1943) the sole surviving Auroratone. Soundtrack vocal by Bing Crosby. Preserved by Film Technology Co. for the Orphan Film Film Symposium; print owner Robert Marten donated the material to the Academy. Introduced by Walter Forsberg.
"Shit Happens: The Salvation of a Lost Student Film." Director Penelope Spheeris and Academy preservationist Mark Toscano discuss and screen her never-before-seen 16mm film Shit (1969).
Dino Everett (USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive) shows Felix Ferdinando and His Orchestra in Musical Moments (Bristolphone, 1929-30), projected on an original Western Electric/Vitaphone 16mm sound-on-disc film projector. From the Herbert E. Farmer Motion Picture Technology Collection.
City Harvest (OWI, ca. 1943-44) "Victory gardening" in Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods. Heather Linville introduces a new 35mm print from the Academy's War Film Collection.
What About Thad[?] (Keith Atkinson; BYU Motion Picture Studio, 1968) + [Being Alone] (Bonneville Productions, 1980) TV spot for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both introduced by Hadrian Belove (The Cinefamily)
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| Opening title (left) and end title (?) explain the variable title listings in catalogs. The original 1968 release was listed as 20 minutes. Belove introduced an 8-minute version (which appears to have been done in 1973). |
Help! My Snowman's Burning Down (Carson Davidson, 1964) Brian Meacham introduces the Academy's preservation of this Oscar-nominated satire on the Madison Avenue image of the world. Cast: Bob Larkin.
Naked Yoga (Paul Cordsen, 1974) Academy Award, Best Documentary Short Subject. Excerpt introduced by Academy curator Ed Carter.
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| Larkin contacted the Academy to report how surprised hew was to find a 49-year-old image of himself on the cover of the Academy calendar that came to his mailbox prior to "The Real Indies." He spoke at the screening about the making of Snowman. Photos: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. |
Naked Yoga (Paul Cordsen, 1974) Academy Award, Best Documentary Short Subject. Excerpt introduced by Academy curator Ed Carter.
excerpt from Don't Bank on Amerika (Peter Biskind, Stephen Hornick, & John C. Manning; Cinecong Films, 1970) from University of California Santa Barbara Film Archive. Documentary about the burning of a Bank of America building in Isla Vista, California, Feb. 25, 1970. Introduced by Ross Melnick and Charles Wolfe (UCSB)
Mission to Mongo (Jim Hoberman, 1978) premiere 16mm screening of the newly-preserved work from Anthology Film Archives. Support from the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts. The filmmaker, better known as critic J. Hoberman, assembled postcards from the streets of Chinatown in New York, superimposing political texts in Brechtian fashion. Introduced by Dan Streible, with a nod to the Academy Foundation for funding NYU student internships at Anthology.
Liz Keim & Sam Sharkey of the Exploratorium's Cinema Arts Program introduce Jon Boorstin, who introduces his film Exploratorium (1974). Premiere screening of the Academy's new 35mm restoration of the museum's eponymous documentary.
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Thanks to Barbara Hall (Margaret Herrick Library) for digital presentation of glass lantern slides from the Herrick Library collections; and to Mike Pogorzelski (Academy Film Archive).
* * * *
for
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Adam Hyman (right; Los Angeles Filmforum) announces an Orphan Film event on Sunday. Scholar-programmer Genevieve Yue (left) with a lineup of experimental films, including Releasing Human Energies (Mark Toscano, 2012) (center): "China Girls" at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. .
A Los Angeles Filmforum event co-sponsored by the NYU Orphan Film Project.
