NFPF News

54 Films to be Preserved by the 2026 NFPF Preservation Grants

The National Film Preservation Foundation is proud to announce the winners of its 2026 federally funded grants. 30 institutions—eight new to our grant programs—will use these awards to preserve 54 films. Since its creation by Congress in 1996, the NFPF has provided support to 356 institutions in every state, to save films unprotected by commercial interests. As always, this year’s grants will ensure that each film is fully preserved on film, with celluloid and digital access copies made available to the public. The grant winners exemplify the widely—and wildly—varying types of “orphan films” that the NFPF was created to preserve. Five genres take the spotlight this year: community portraits, documentaries, industrial films, experimental works, and silents.

The University of Virginia will preserve footage of John Jackson, the … Read more

Register for a 2026 NFPF Grant by March 20

The National Film Preservation Foundation invites applications for the federally funded grants program to support the preservation of historically and culturally significant American films. Grants are open to nonprofit and public institutions in the United States that provide public access to their film collections. The deadline to register for a Basic Preservation Grant or Matching Grant is Friday, March 20. Eligible projects will be invited to submit a complete proposal by Friday, April 24.

Basic Preservation Grants range from $1,000 to $20,000 to fund laboratory work to create preservation masters and access copies.

Matching Grants help experienced institutions undertake larger-scale projects. Awards range between $20,001 and $75,000 to fund laboratory work. Organizations must “match” the NFPF grant with cash support equal to one-fifth of the award. Only institutions that … Read more

2025 Avant-Garde Masters Grants to Preserve Seventeen Films

Better Be Careful (1986) by Heather McAdams

The National Film Preservation Foundation and The Film Foundation are pleased to announce the 2025 Avant-Garde Masters Grants. Works by Heather McAdams, Kathleen Laughlin, and Michael Mideke will be preserved and made accessible with generous funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. 

The Chicago Film Society will continue its efforts to preserve the work of Chicago-based alternative cartoonist and filmmaker Heather McAdams, with eight titles slated for restoration. Known for her playful use of found footage and recontextualized sound, this selection represents a vibrant cross-section of McAdams’s body of work—highlighting her humor, inventive use of media, and distinctive filmmaking techniques. From early Super 8 student films like The Dream (1978) and Dr. Loomis (1978) to Jay Elvis (1991), an eccentric portrait of an Elvis … Read more

81 Films to be Preserved by the 2025 NFPF Preservation Grants

Eight public service and promotional films featuring Hollywood stars will be preserved by the George Eastman Museum with NFPF support. In this untitled teaser from 1952 Joan Crawford fundraises for a Texas clinic that cared for children with polio.

The National Film Preservation Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of its 2025 federally funded grants, which will allow 31 institutions across 14 states and the District of Columbia to preserve 81 films.

The richly varied selection ranges from Joan Crawford to Jordan Belson, Herbert Hoover to forensic science founder Dr. Rutherford Birchard Hayes Gradwohl, and it stretches from Polish Highlanders in Chicago to the Iñupiat in Alaska. The grant-winners encompass almost every genre of “orphan film.” These highlights give a taste of the selection—to see the full list of 2025 grant recipients, go here. … Read more

Avant-Garde Masters Grants Preserve the Work of Four Filmmakers

Ariel (1983) by Nathaniel Dorsky

Early films by Nathaniel Dorsky, as well as works by Tatsu Aoki and Midwestern feminist filmmakers JoAnn Elam and Kathleen Laughlin will be preserved and made accessible through the 2024 Avant-Garde Masters Grants, awarded by The Film Foundation and the National Film Preservation Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Four early works by renowned filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky will be preserved by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Fool’s Spring: Two Personal Gifts (1966-67), a birthday gift exchange between Dorsky and longtime partner and filmmaker Jerome Hiler, will be made available to the public for the first time. Pneuma (1977-83) and Ariel (1983) are experiments with the material and chemical properties of film, yielding vibrant abstractions of energy and color. Drawing on … Read more