Sony Pictures Entertainment recently completed a 4K restoration of None Shall Escape, the 1943 Columbia Pictures drama widely credited as the first film to address the subject of the Nazi Holocaust. The newly restored film recently had its world premiere at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, with one of the film’s stars, 100-year-old actress Marsha Hunt, in attendance.
The Association of Moving Image Archivists’ Digital Asset Symposium returns to New York on June 6, presenting a full day of discussions sharply focused on today’s most compelling topics in asset management. The daylong event will take place once again at the Museum of Modern Art.
Universal Pictures and The Film Foundation have announced a multi-year partnership to restore a handpicked selection of the studios' classic titles. With this collaboration, Universal will fund the restorations as well as provide research and technical services. Through The Film Foundation, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg will be personally involved in the process contributing their unique artistic expertise and historical knowledge throughout the restoration process. The restored versions will be screened at film festivals and archives around the world. The 2018 restoration slate includes the following:
The Women’s Film Preservation Fund, a project of New York Women in Film & Television, is accepting submissions for its film Preservation grants for this year. This is not a production grant. The deadline is June 15.
The Association of Moving Image Archivists will present a series of online webinars in partnership with the Northwest Document Conservation Center. The webinars, designed to educate professionals in the archive and preservation communities on the latest processes impacting their work, begin October 12 and run through November 2, and are priced individually.
The Reel Thing, a symposium that supports the Association of Moving Image Archivists, will open with the U.S. premiere of a new restoration of the Oscar-nominated 1960 film La Verite (The Truth). Two additional new 4K restorations also will be shown during The Reel Thing, including the U.S. premiere of Howard Hawks’ Scarface and the world premiere of Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy. The Reel Thing takes place August 24-26 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.
Éclair today announced the signing of a framework agreement with Gaumont for the restoration of more than 100 feature films. The contract will cover a three-year period and calls 25 to 40 films to be restored annually.
The Digital Asset Symposium, presented by the Association of Moving Image Archivists, has added several panel discussions to its May 5 program lineup. The DAS brings together top experts in various fields to address the ongoing challenges facing digital asset management practitioners. The event is being held at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.
Lightyear Entertainment has announced the release of the newly-restored 30th anniversary edition of its groundbreaking multi-director film Aria. In Aria, ten of the world’s most creative and celebrated directors were each given the same brief: to choose a piece of opera music and then present a visual interpretation of that music with complete artistic freedom. Music was sourced from the massive RCA Red Seal catalog; the score features some of the world’s best opera singers.
MTI Film has released DRS Nova 2.3, an upgrade to its software for digital film restoration. The new release includes a host of new and enhanced features created in response to requests from restoration professionals worldwide. All are aimed at making such tasks as dust busting, image stabilization and de-warping faster and easier.
