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The repatriation and restoration of 26 U.S. nonfiction films from the 1910s and 1920s, currently located at EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

The NFPF requests $300,000 to preserve and present 26 American nonfiction films of the 1910s and 1920s, the period from which the fewest films survive. A time capsule of industry, agriculture, explorations, natural wonders, and current events, the works were found at EYE Film Institute Netherlands, evaluated onsite, and selected for their research value by a team of American scholars and archivists. Three-quarters no longer exist in the U.S.; the remainder are represented by poorer copies. With NEH support, the nitrate prints will be preserved to 35mm film with reconstructed English-language intertitles, in collaboration with EYE, AMPAS, GEH, LOC, and the Oregon Historical Society, and digital copies will be made available on the web, with new essays and music. Building on our successful repatriation efforts with Australia and New Zealand, this NFPF-led collaboration will recover "lost" resources for the humanities and pave the way for further film preservation partnerships in Europe.

[Media coverage]

Project fields:
American Studies; Film History and Criticism

Program:
Humanities Collections and Reference Resources

Division:
Preservation and Access

Totals:
$260,000 (approved)
$260,000 (awarded)

Grant period:
5/1/2014 – 4/30/2019