Saving “Orphan” Films

Established in 1997, the National Film Preservation Foundation was formed by Congress to help save America’s film heritage. In this program, the foundation’s Jeff Lambert introduces a program of “orphan films”—works with no corporate owner or copyright holder and at greatest risk of falling through the cracks—whose preservation the NFPF is supporting. The program includes films by Owen Land, Shirley Clarke, and Charles and Ray Eames among others. (program approx. 90 mins., 16 & 35mm)

Program lineup:

Fifty Million Years Ago
(Service film, 1925; 35mm, silent, tinted)
Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Faces & Fortunes
(Goldsholl Design & Film Associates, 1959; 16mm, sound, color)
Print courtesy Chicago Film Archives.

Young Braves
(Michael Jacobsohn, 1968, 16mm, sound, b&w)
Print courtesy New York Public Library.

A Film of Their 1973 Spring Tour Commissioned by Christian World Liberation Front of Berkeley, CA
(Owen Land, 1974; 16mm, sound, color)
Preserved by Anthology Film Archives.

24 Frames Per Second
(Shirley Clarke, 1977; 16mm, sound, color)
Print courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

Day of the Dead
(Charles and Ray Eames, 1957; 35mm, sound, color)
Preserved by Library of Congress.

Multiple Sidosis
(Sid Laverents, 1970; 16mm/35mm, sound, color)
Print courtesy UCLA Film & Television Archive.