Posted: October 17th, 2008, 6:29 am
Well said... and it must be remembered that many of the larger respositories like Eastman House, UCLA, AMPAS, LOC do schedule occasional showings of various silent films. Most of these also will schedule private showings for a fee.
Of course for those of us who do not live near these repositories it becomes an issue of time and money if we want to see these films. Even in artsy-fartsy Santa Fe, we have no silent film festivals or showings (although we have a film festival).
And you're right about catalogs. Eastman House has many separate film collections and each collection is in the midst of being cataloged with a searchable database. Whether these databases will go public is another question (of money and legal issues).
When I went to Eastman House a few years ago it was a tedious exchange of emails trying to find the right person to contact and then badgering him (he was very nice) to search for certain films I wanted to see. But even he had to search in several collections to find film titles, ensure they were complete films and not snippets, ensure the films had been restored, and then make sure the films could be legally shown). Of course he had to do this around his regular work.
Once I got there, watching the films was a snap because they had me set up in a private room with a Steenbeck film editing machine. However, even on premises I was not allowed to search any archives or collections and even with the films LITERALLY in my hands, there was no way to make copies or transfers to VHS or DVD.
It's so frustrating to know that many silent films and early talkies do indeed exist but we'll probably never (as a community of film buffs) see them unless WE go to the FILMS).
Of course for those of us who do not live near these repositories it becomes an issue of time and money if we want to see these films. Even in artsy-fartsy Santa Fe, we have no silent film festivals or showings (although we have a film festival).
And you're right about catalogs. Eastman House has many separate film collections and each collection is in the midst of being cataloged with a searchable database. Whether these databases will go public is another question (of money and legal issues).
When I went to Eastman House a few years ago it was a tedious exchange of emails trying to find the right person to contact and then badgering him (he was very nice) to search for certain films I wanted to see. But even he had to search in several collections to find film titles, ensure they were complete films and not snippets, ensure the films had been restored, and then make sure the films could be legally shown). Of course he had to do this around his regular work.
Once I got there, watching the films was a snap because they had me set up in a private room with a Steenbeck film editing machine. However, even on premises I was not allowed to search any archives or collections and even with the films LITERALLY in my hands, there was no way to make copies or transfers to VHS or DVD.
It's so frustrating to know that many silent films and early talkies do indeed exist but we'll probably never (as a community of film buffs) see them unless WE go to the FILMS).