The Wexner Center for the Arts has long championed the restoration and preservation of film. Year round, their programming celebrates films salvaged from obscurity by the meticulous, sometimes harrowing efforts of those working to restore and preserve our cinematic heritage. But for the first time, the art center has planned a five-day celebration of the cause.
Cinema Revival: A Festival of Film Restoration spans animation, short film, documentary and full length narrative and includes many guest speakers who bring insight and attention to the process.
“I keep trying to tell as many people as possible, you’ll be blown away by how interesting this work is,” says Dave Filipi, the Wex’s Director of Film/Video.
The program launches Wednesday, February 25 with a look at the recently restored work of animator Suzan Pitt. The director will be on-hand to introduce her work, an addition Filipi believes brings an important perspective to the festival.
“It became logical to have a filmmaker’s point of view in all of this,” he says. “The Academy is in the process of restoring all of her films – and on film – and we thought it would be really interesting to have a filmmaker come and introduce her films and also speak to having her work preserved.”
Pitt’s will be one of many voices to explain the process, the importance, and often the sheer adventure of film restoration and preservation.
“I think showing the films is great, but it’s also important to hear from the people doing the work,” Filipi says.
“Grover Crisp (Executive Vice President of Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering, Sony Pictures) is kind of the centerpiece to this,” says Filipi. “Grover will talk about what’s happening on the studio level. We’ve been trying to bring him to the center for years.”
The Criterion Collection’s Lee Kline will also be on hand to discuss the odyssey of remastering Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy – an adventure that spanned three continents and saw the group sifting through the ashes of a tragic fire to piece together frames of the films.
Filipi also looked locally for insight.
“Tim Lanza (Vice President and Archivist, Cohen Film Collection) is a close friend, but also, here’s this house in Columbus, and they’ve been stepping up what they’ve been doing with restoration,” he says. “It was important to have a local angle.”
For Filipi, there are many reasons to celebrate the preservation and restoration of film.
“It’s the same in any field,” he says. “Anything that has to do with art or anything where artifacts are involved, it’s of the utmost importance.”
Filipi says the average moviegoer sometimes misses the importance of film restoration and preservation, something he hopes this programming can illuminate.
“There are films that may have been transferred to video so they can be shown everything from VHS to TV to DVD, and people assume they’re fine, but the best surviving material may be in really terrible shape,”Filipi laments. “As long as it’s available on Netflix or DVD, often people don’t really think about the original material and what kind of condition that’s in. By calling attention to that –restoration and preservation – and showing films theatrically, I think it emphasizes the importance of seeing some of these films in the proper setting, but also that we always have to be vigilant in making sure that these original materials are taken care of.”
The Wex’s Cinema Revival: A Festival of Film Restoration kicks off Wednesday, February 25th and runs through Sunday, March 1. Festival passes include admission for all talks and screenings and run $35 for the general public, $30 for Wexner Center members, students, and seniors.
Full series line-up:
- Suzan Pitt: New Restorations (Introduced by the director): Wed., 2/25, 7pm
- Jamaica Inn (Introduced by Tim Lanza, VP and Archivist, Cohen Film Collection): Thur., 2/26, 7pm
- Burroughs: The Movie: Thur., 2/26, 9:15pm
- Restoring Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy (presented by Lee Kline, Technical Director, Criterion Collection): Fri., 2/27, 5pm (FREE)
- Hollywood Studio Restoration: Sony Pictures (Presented by Grover Crisp, Executive VP of Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering, Sony Pictures) (tickets include admission to Sandra)
- Sandra, Fri., 2/27, 8:30pm
- The King and the Mockingbird: Sat., 2/28, 11:30am
- Syncopation/ Symphony in Black: Sat., 2/28 1:30pm
- Only Angels Have Wings: Sat., 2/28 4pm
- Hiroshima mon amour/Last Reel (Introduced by Steven Bognar): Sat., 2/28 7pm
- Milestones in Disney Animation: Sun., 3/1, 11:30am
- Why Be Good?: Sun., 3/1, 1:30pm
For more information, visit wexarts.org.
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