The first five Orphan Film Symposiums were produced at the University of South Carolina in Columbia (1999 to 2006). Since 2008, New York University has produced the series, both the four-day biennales and shorter inter-year editions.
- 2024 Orphans 14: Work & Play, Museum of the Moving Image (NYC)
- 2023 All-Television Edition, UCLA Film and Television Archive, Hammer Museum (LA)
- 2022 Orphans 13: Counter-Archives, Concordia University (Tiohti:áke/Montreal)
- 2020 Orphans 12: Water, Climate, and Migration, Eye / Ambulante (watch)
- 2019 Radicals, Austrian Film Museum (Vienna)
- 2018 Orphans 11: Love, Museum of the Moving Image (NYC)
- 2017 Tests, essais et expérimentation, Cinémathèque française (Paris)
- 2016 Orphans X: Sound, Library of Congress (Culpeper)
- 2014 The Real Indies: A Close Look at Orphan Films, Academy Theater (NY)
- 2014 Orphans 9: Obsolescence, Eye Filmmuseum (Amsterdam)
- 2013 Orphans Midwest: Materiality and Moving Image, Indiana University (Bloomington)
- 2013 The Real Indies, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (LA)
- 2012 Orphans 8: Made to Persuade, Museum of the Moving Image (NYC)
- 2011 Celebrating Orphan Films, UCLA Film and Television Archive (LA)
- 2011 Archivos Memorias, Cineteca Nacional (Mexico City)
- 2010 Orphans 7: Moving Pictures Around the World, SVA Theatre (NYC)
- 2009 Orphans West: Los Angeles Filmforum, Cinefamily, Silent Movie Theater (LA)
- 2008 Orphans 6: The State, NYU Cantor Film Center (NYC)
at the University of South Carolina (Columbia)
- 2006 Orphans 5: Science, Industry, and Education + full audio
- 2004 Orphans 4: On Location: Place and Region in Forgotten Films
- 2002 Orphans 3: Sound/Music/Voice
- 2001 Orphans 2: Documenting the 20th Century
- 1999 Orphans of the Storm: Saving ‘Orphan Films’ in the Digital Age
Below: Program covers for all editions, 1999 to present.
The first five Orphan Film Symposium were produced at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Its first commissioning body was the USC Library, with the Film Studies Program became its co-organizing partner. Subsequently, the College of Liberal Arts (home of the Film Studies Program and the Department of Art) became the symposium’s home unit. Multiple USC schools, departments, programs, and offices supported the biennial symposium and research projects. Private-sector sponsors and grant programs added support. The core “Orphans” (as it came to be called) faculty organizers remained with the symposium from its first edition onward: Susan Courtney (Film Studies), Julie Hubbert (School of Music), Laura Kissel (Media Arts), and Dan Streible (Film Studies / Department of Art). The USC Newsfilm Library continued to provide archival programming and film preservation initiatives.