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Festival of Preservation screens old school films for DVD generation
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF hho@media.ucla.edu From building the iconic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood to discovering stars such as Marlon Brando and Grace Kelly, filmmaker Stanley Kramer remains a vital part of film history. When it came time to preserve that history, Kramer donated his films and memorabilia to the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Kramer is just one of many important filmmakers and institutions which donate to the archive, which finished its biannual Festival of Preservation Aug. 24. The festival's program notes include personal submissions from the likes of Hugh Hefner, George Lucas, and Dustin Hoffman. The festival also includes the contribution of materials and funds from Martin Scorsese, among others. The festival screened the preserved 35 millimeter film prints for a new generation, as well as keeping in touch with the talent who made them. On Aug. 23, the late Kramer's widow, Karen, was there for a viewing of Kramer's 1949 production, "Champion," which made Kirk Douglas a star and influenced films such as "Raging Bull." Film legend (and father of Michael) Douglas later arrived to a standing ovation and said, "I should come here more often ... I don't usually watch my own films ... but I want to see how I looked 52 years ago." It is fitting that Kramer, with "Champion," established himself as one of the first formidable independent filmmakers. This year's festival focused on independent films, which often require more preservation work than big Hollywood films. Independent filmmakers are often barely able to finance their films let alone preserve them. For this reason, films as recent as the 1987 film, "Matewan," need the efforts of people like film preservationist Ross Lipman, who specializes in independent cinema. "After enough screenings those prints can get beat up and scratched," Lipman said. "There might be sections that are lost, and all you've got is the original negative. But where has it gone to? That's where a lot of our work comes in: trying to track down what exists on the film, and then comparing those elements to find ones in the best condition and piecing them all together." To preserve "Matewan," Lipman contacted director John Sayles and cinematographer Haskell Wexler to ensure the film's original vision. For example, Lipman noticed the negatives were Fuji film and not the standard Kodak. After calling Wexler, Lipman found that he wanted Fuji's softer color palette. The struggle of independent cinema in preservation mirrors its struggle in terms of the alternative points of view and politics it often represents. During the screening of the pro-union film, "Matewan," many political activists showed up and later used the post-screening discussion to vent their political views. Without proper preservation, the loss of these types of independent voices could be tantamount to a kind of de facto censorship. "It's generally the case that history gets rewritten to fit contemporary thought," Wexler said. "I think this film represents a kind of history that you don't usually hear or know about." The UCLA Film and Television Archive is housed in several locations, including Powell Library, Melnitz Hall, as well as an office in Hollywood. Some contain climate-controlled storage facilities (film requires a cool, dry environment) for the various types of film, including acetate-based film which is stored at UCLA's Southern Regional Library Facility. Kramer was the first to donate to the Archive in the 1970s, prompting others such as Tony Curtis to donate their personal collections. The archive's films can be accessed through the video library in Powell or through film festivals around the world, such as those in Venice and London, which request the prints to be shipped. After over a hundred years of dominance, 35 mm film is under serious threat of obsolescence from digital media as seen in the recent "Star Wars" installment. Yet Lipman believes that digital media will face even more preservation issues from incompatible formats. New DVD technology may make old DVDs obsolete and will have even less durability and longevity than their film counterparts. Vivian Umino, however, a recent UCLA alumna from UCLA's graduate film program and attendee at the festival, sees more to it than just preserving the past. "Even though I grew up with digital recorders and VHS, there's something that a print has that to me will always be special," Umino said. "Prints are fragile, and it's in that fragility that often times you see the beauty." |
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