As Twenty Twenty draws to a close, it’s a good time to express gratitude to those who helped make good things happen amid anxious times.
First, thanks to all of who share their work — archiving, preservation, writing, research, publication, scanning, media production, programming, curating — in ways that allow us to collectively save, study, and screen orphan films. The eclectic body of previously neglected moving images and sounds continues to intrigue and inspire us. Although we of course missed gathering in person for the NYU Orphan Film Symposium at Eye in Amsterdam, the online edition of Orphans 2020: Water, Climate, and Migration allowed more people than ever to see striking films and to hear engaging speakers (nearly 80!) around the world. Special thanks to the Ambulante documentary organization of Mexico, its Directora Paulina Suárez, and Walter Forsberg, who made the high-quality online technical presentation possible.
[vimeo 434811199 w=640 h=360]Orphans 2020 Sizzle Reel from by Walter Forsberg.
Reading the live chat as sessions began — “Good evening, from Olomouc, Czech Republic!” “Good morning from Rajasthan!” “¡Hola de Cinemateca Peruana!” “London calling.” “Watching here in Brooklyn [Frankfurt / Mumbai / Cairo / Columbia / Zagreb / etc. etc.]” — made it all the more exciting. Here’s to a Spring 2022 symposium (Archive/Counter-Archive) at Concordia University in Montreal!
The world of online festivals and cinematheque programming has rapidly expanded since this past spring. As we eagerly await a return to theaters and other public spaces, film archives have provided some very welcome access to rare material (orphans, if you will). To take just one example: Project Henri, “Des films rares de la Cinémathèque française à voir en ligne.” This month, the Cinémathèque (host of an Orphan Film Symposium in 2017) has posted such tantalizing rarities as rushes and outtakes from Luis Buñuel’s Las Hurdes (1932) and L’Age d’Or (1930), as well as curator Laurent Mannoni’s anthology of 70 chronophotographic films (1889-1904) recorded by Étienne-Jules Marey in 35, 60, and 90mm formats.
Another “Henri” screening being shared in English, French, and Spanish — Dialogue of Exiles by Raùl Ruiz — connects well with two Orphan Film presentations by José Miguel Palacios and Elizabeth Ramírez-Soto. In the May 2020 post “Chilean Exile Cinema” the scholars extend their research presented at the Austrian Film Museum‘s Orphans/Radicals event in 2019, offering a look at exile Angelina Vázquez’s film Dos años en Finlandia (1975), with digital access from the Cineteca Nacional de Chile.
Originally, their talk in Amsterdam was to be followed by a rare screening of the feature film Gens de toutes parts…Gens de nulle part [People from Everywhere…People from Nowhere] (Belgium/France, 1980), directed by Valeria Sarmiento. A digital restoration by Cinémathèque Française and Cineteca Nacional de Chile lies ahead. Meanwhile, we can enjoy this Henri streaming of Chilean-exile-in-France Raúl Ruiz’s Diálogo de exiliados (1974). Working with Sarmiento (widow of Ruiz), CF restored Dialogue d’exilés in 2K from the original 16mm negative and optical sound.
Merci!
et adieu, 2020.
https://vimeo.com/user5490513