Category: Film Preservation

The Nitrate Picture Show Program Announced

~ Lincoln Spector

Like Telleride, The Nitrate Picture Show - the film festival that brought me to Rochester, NY - keeps its schedule secret until the opening morning. I now have that schedule. Here are the films we'll all be seeing: Friday: 4:30: Nitrate Shorts 7:30: Summer Interlude, a little-remembered Ingmar Bergman film from 1951. 10:00: Holiday, a classic comedy with Cary … Continue reading The Nitrate Picture Show Program Announced

Dawson City: A Hidden Treasure Trove in an Artic Swimming Pool

~ Lincoln Spector

C+ Film history documentary Directed by Bill Morrison In 1978, Michael Gates of Dawson City stumbled on a huge collection of 35mm nitrate film, buried in a former swimming pool below a torn-down ice rink. The once-thriving Yukon mining town sits less than 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The film stock was much … Continue reading Dawson City: A Hidden Treasure Trove in an Artic Swimming Pool

Spellbound with music: Surviving and enjoying the 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

Nothing really beats the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. For three days (plus an opening night), you're immersed in an art form that was born, matured, reached extraordinary heights, and then suddenly died--all within the space of 20 to 40 years (depending on how to you define its birth and death). All told, this year's … Continue reading Spellbound with music: Surviving and enjoying the 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Friday at the PFA

~ Lincoln Spector

I caught two very different films, from two very different series, at the Pacific Film Archive Friday night. Both films were shown without an introduction. Bachelor's Affairs This was the second screening of the UCLA Festival of Preservation 2016 series, and the first in that series that I was able to attend. Before the feature, … Continue reading Friday at the PFA

Janus, Criterion, Coen Brothers, and James Schamus: Saturday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

I started the day with Wesley Morris' State of Cinema address. But as I've already written about that presentation, I'll skip it here and go to the two other events I attended. Mel Novikoff Award: An Afternoon with Janus Films & the Criterion Collection Every year, the Festival gives the Mel Novikoff Award to "an … Continue reading Janus, Criterion, Coen Brothers, and James Schamus: Saturday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

Cinema’s past and cinema’s future: Sunday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday was a very strange day for me at the San Francisco International Film Festival. I didn’t see a single, complete film. But it was still worthwhile. Mel Novikoff Award: Lenny Borger The Novikoff Award goes to someone who who "has enhanced the film-going public’s appreciation of world cinema." Sometimes it goes to someone famous, … Continue reading Cinema’s past and cinema’s future: Sunday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

TCM Classic Film Festival coming to Hollywood (and I wish I could be there)

~ Lincoln Spector

I generally only write about Bay Area film festivals. In fact, all too often, I don't have time to cover them properly. And yet here I am, writing about a festival that's four hundred miles away. And there's simply no practical way for me to attend. It is, of course, Turner Classic Movies' TCM Classic … Continue reading TCM Classic Film Festival coming to Hollywood (and I wish I could be there)

Chaplin at the Castro: My Report on a Wonderful Day

~ Lincoln Spector

On January 11, 1914, a Keystone movie crew drove to Venice--a beach town near Los Angeles--to improvise a comedy around an actual event of modest interest. Only one performer came with the crew--a young British Music Hall comedian recently signed with Keystone. The comic, Charlie Chaplin, quickly put together a costume and makeup, and created … Continue reading Chaplin at the Castro: My Report on a Wonderful Day