Saving Orphan Films: The Amateurs and Others

What happens to films of cultural significance that have no corporate owner? The Orphan Film Symposium is a biennial gathering of archivists, scholars, filmmakers, and curators dedicated to exploring works with little commercial value and at the greatest risk of not being preserved. Join us as symposium director Dan Streible and archivist Andy Uhrich present neglected treasures from institutions and collections around the country. You'll see Ephraim Horowitz's award-winning amateur memoir EPH 4/27/16; the Vietnam War—era "home" movie Long Binh Post Exchange, which documents the "dap" handshake among African American GIs; and the 16mm restoration world premiere of Edward and Naomi Feil's The Inner World of Aphasia, about professionals treating those who cannot communicate verbally, among others. Streible is also associate professor of cinema studies, New York University. (program approx. 90 mins., digital video and 16mm)

Program:

Home movie of French Quarter, New Orleans, before Katrina (Helen Hill, ca. 2002; 3 mins.)
Source: NYU Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, BB Optics, Center for Home Movies, and Harvard Film Archive.

Venus and Adonis (J. V. D. Bucher and Harry Dunham, 1935; 10 mins.)
Source: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Library of Congress.

The Inner World of Aphasia (Edward R. Feil and Naomi Feil, 1968; 22 mins.)
Source: Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive.

Përjetësi (Eternity, Dhimitër Anagnosti, 1973; 9 mins.)
Source: Central State Film Archive of Albania (AQSHF).

Long Binh Post Exchange [South Vietnam] (Marcellus Hartman, ca. 1971; 4 mins.)
Source: Texas Archive of the Moving Image.

EPH 4/27/16 (Ephraim Horowitz, 1979; 26 mins.)
Source: NYU Orphan Film Symposium, Fandor, and the Horowitz estate.