Lecture on moving image conservation

"Saving Motion"
The Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre of the Courtauld Institute of Art
Strand, London WC2, UK
Wednesday 19 January 2011
7 pm

Motion pictures, the movies, enjoy a position of both mass
entertainment and valued products of our creative heritage. From the
era of silent films to today's high budget features, masterpieces
abound, as do intimate personal moments and historic documentaries
that capture the intangible aspects of what surrounds us.

Moving image heritage makes up a large portion of the world's memory
and both commercial and personal examples are found in every country
and in every size and type of institution across the world.
Archives, libraries, and museums struggle to conserve these records
in a manner that attempts to respect the authenticity and inherent
values while assuring and encouraging broad access. As the idea of
digitization presents itself as a solution to both preservation and
accessibility, questions arise regarding the value of the original
footage, the qualities unique to film based material, our
stewardship responsibilities to preserve these works in their unique
original form, and the essential role and definition of film
archives.

Kevin Brownlow and Paolo Cherchi Usai will explore a wide range of
issues pertaining to the preservation of moving image heritage
(films, video and digital materials) as well as the particular
challenges of access. This dialogue between two of the leading
pioneers and experts of the preservation of motion pictures will
also explore the reasons for an apparent disconnect between those
pursuing the preservation of film and the larger conservation
community working toward the preservation of heritage in other art
forms.

Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, author, and Academy
Award recipient, best known for his documentation of the history of
silent films. He is the creator of the alternative-history film, It
Happened Here and the 1975 film Winstanley. Brownlow has written
numerous works on silent and classic films including The Parade's
Gone By (1968). In collaboration with David Gill he produced a
number of documentaries on the silent film era, including the 1983
Unknown Chaplin and the 1995 Cinema Europe: the Other Hollywood. His
book The Search for Charlie Chaplin was published this year, 2010.

Paolo Cherchi Usai, is director of the Haghefilm Foundation in
Amsterdam, cofounder and co-director of the Pordenone Silent Film
Festival and of the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation
at George Eastman House. He has authored numerous works on film and
its preservation including Burning Passions: An Introduction to the
Study of Silent Cinema (1994),The Death of Cinema: History, Cultural
Memory, and the Digital Dark Age (2001) and co-author of Film
Curatorship: Archives, Museums, and the Digital Marketplace (2008).

This event is part of the IIC initiative Dialogues for the New
Century.

Transcripts of past events can be downloaded from the IIC web site

    <URL:http://www.iiconservation.org>

This event follows the formal business of IIC's 2010 AGM and is open
to the public.  IIC's 2011 Annual General Meeting will be held in at
5.30 pm at this venue and is open to all IIC members.

Graham Voce
Executive Secretary
International Institute for Conservation
of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC)
6 Buckingham Street
London
+44 20 7839 5875
Fax: 20 7839 5975


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:31
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