Film Preservation Symposium
University of South Carolina
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
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 on Thursday,
followed by two days of papers and screenings.  The sessions on Friday and
Saturday will feature both invited presentations and papers selected from
this open call.
        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 by February 15,
1999.  For registration information contact:

Prof.  Dan Streible
Department of Art
Univ. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC  29208
(803) 777-9158
fax   777-0535
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