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America 250: The NFPF’s Semiquincentennial Screening
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To herald the 250th anniversary of the USA, the NFPF will present eight shorts on July 18th at the Eagle Theatre in Los Angeles, home of the Vidiots Foundation. These preserved gems, from archives around the country, demonstrate the American spirit and the drive of democracy, revealing the many ways—from amateur to avant-garde—that American filmmakers have used movies to inform, honor, document, and critique.
The roster:
- Flaming Canyons (1929, preserved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), a startlingly scenic stencil-colored travelogue promoting the wonders of our National Parks.
- An excerpt from Marian Anderson’s Lincoln Memorial Concert (1939, UCLA Film & Television Archive).
- Obey Your Air Raid Warden (1942, Chicago Film Archives), a parodic WWII-era amateur public service announcement, laying down eight rules to observe after an air raid warning.
- The … Read more
Tom Mix in Trailin’ at the UCLA Festival of Preservation
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| Eva Novak watches Tom Mix take aim at the villains in Trailin' (1921). |
Late May sees the return of the biennial UCLA Festival of Preservation, which allows the public to view UCLA Film & Television Archive’s recent preservation and restoration projects on the big screen of the Billy Wilder Theater. All screenings are free, and on May 31 you can see the Tom Mix western Trailin’ (1921), preserved through a National Film Preservation Foundation grant.
Mix takes the role of a polo-playing Bostonian who heads West to learn the truth about his mother after the death of his father in a mysterious duel. Stunt-filled action ensues as foolish Westerners lock horns with our hero and live to regret it: “He looks like a tenderfoot and he talks like a tenderfoot, but he ain’t no tenderfoot!”
Using skills learned during his years as a ranch hand and … Read more
“Amazing Tales from the Archives” This Week!
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| Jimmy Aubrey will do anything to get out of the house and into mischief in A Musical Mixup (1928). |
Come out and see a presentation on a wonderful film funded through a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Thursday, May 7 sees the return of “Amazing Tales from the Archives” at the San Francisco Silent Festival. This free annual program, begun in 2006, brings together archivists from around the world to present reports on recent preservation projects. This year audiences will enjoy four presentations (with musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne) from leading archivists and scholars.
Among them is Kyle Westphal, co-founder of the Chicago Film Society, who will present A Musical Mixup (1928) and the saga of its preservation. This two-reel comedy shows what happens when two friends (Jimmy Aubrey and Bud Duncan) connive to attend the … Read more
NFPF-preserved films at the Orphan Film Symposium
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| Like this man, attendees of the Orphan Film Symposium will learn The Four Pillars of Income (1939). |
The Orphan Film Symposium will be held April 8-11 at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. As always, this event will bring together scholars, archivists, curators, media artists, preservationists, and collectors. This year’s theme is “Crisis and Community,” and each day of the symposium includes the presentation of a film preserved through NFPF grants.
The very first screening on the first day, presented by Ashley Dequilla from the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago, is of five films made between 1936 and 1955 by amateur filmmaker Nicholas Viernes that document Filipino American families and their midwestern communities. On day two John Morton of the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound, a part of the Knox County Public Library, … Read more
Register for a 2026 NFPF Grant by March 20
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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