Irene's Bottom Line: << BOTTOM LINE: Hey Scorcese...save a film... sell one of your villas. >> As Chris has pointed out, Martin Scorsese has done more than his share of work (and spent more than his share of money) on behalf of film preservation. Scorsese's work includes serving as a current member of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB). With his colleague Arthur Hiller, he sits on the NFPB as a representative of the Directors Guild of America. Additionally, Scorsese was highly instrumental in the 1997 re-release and restoration of _Contempt_. Work on the film included restorative work on the multi-lingual soundtrack and the primary colors of the Bardot nude scene at the beginning of the film. Scorsese has a major credit (something like "Martin Scorsese Presents") in the opening titles of the re-released and newly-restored film. Apart from the Scorsese issue, Irene's post raised other issues of private sector responsibility for film preservation. The newly created National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) is aimed specifically at the private sector. As a 501(c)(3) corporation, the NFPF is a non-profit organization to which donations---monetary as well as in-kind---by individuals and business entities are *tax deductible* as charitable contributions. Thus, the Foundation was established not only as a means to raise film preservation funds from the private sector of the American economy but also as an incentive to the donation of private funds for national film preservation efforts. Private sector efforts notwithstanding, Chris has stated the case for government-sponsored film preservation at the national level. The restoration process is not only expensive; it is also extraordinarily time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, in addition to the public doman "orphans" of which Chris spoke, there are copyrighted films in need of preservation and restoration that are terribly difficult to lay hands on. Because of the widespread purchase and sale of film libraries in their entireties in the 1980's, no one is quite sure of either the exact identities of the copyright owners or the physical locations of many of these films. According to Robert Harris and James Katz, the team responsible for the _Vertigo_ restoration (among others), _The Lion in Winter_ is one such film badly in need of restoration. In these types of cases---especially when the films are no longer physically located in the United States---it may prove easier or more efficient for governmental rather than private sector resources to be brought to bear on the identification of the owners, and on the location, preservation, and restoration, of the target films. Finally, film preservation did not go unrecognized in Tuesday's announcement of the AMPAS Technical Achievement Awards. One such certificate was awarded to James M. Reilly, Douglas W. Nishimura, and Monique C. Fisher of the Rochester Institute of Technology for the creation of A-D Strips, a diagnostic tool for ascertaining the presence of vinegar syndrome in processed acetate-based motion picture film. (When acetate-based film breaks down, it basically turns into vinegar.) Cynthia Cynthia Bussiere [log in to unmask] San Francisco, California ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama.