Film Preservation Symposium University of South Carolina Columbia, SC September 23-25, 1999 Orphans of the Storm: Saving 'Orphan Films' in the Digital Age The University of South Carolina is hosting a symposium on the preservation of orphan films. The event will feature an eclectic mix of noted film scholars, archivists and preservation experts from leading institutions, and filmmakers who work with orphaned material. Invited speakers will begin the proceedings with a day-long colloquium, followed by two days of presentations, papers and screenings. The "orphan" rubric will be considered broadly, taking in all manner of "at-risk" films: newsreels, silent films, experimental works, public domain materials, amateur footage, advertising films, documentaries, and independent productions. As the twenty-first century dawns, what is being done to preserve orphan films? What approaches and technologies are being used to save the motion picture record of the twentieth century? How are filmmakers and historians using these "living records"? We invite papers and presentations on the subject of preservation and orphan films. Topics might include: identifying and defining "orphans"; technological frontiers of preservation; effects of copyright law on using and saving moving images; public-private initiatives in preservation; the work of local and regional archives; the role of media corporations, of private collectors; digital technologies and film archives; saving recorded sound; access issues for documentary filmmakers; effects of preservation initiatives on historiography; case studies of orphan films; videotape and television preservation; international archives; saving outtakes; preserving and using home movies; canonization of orphan movies. Submit 300-500 word abstracts of proposed papers. Review of proposals begins next week. For registration information contact: Prof. Dan Streible Department of Art University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 (803) 777-9158 (803) 777-0535 fax [log in to unmask] ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama.