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2. The Changing Context of Film Preservation
Film Preservation 1993 concluded that American film preservation is at a crisis point, notwithstanding the strides made by public archives and the film industry. The reasons for this unsettling conclusion are complex and reflect three primary changes in the nature of the film preservation challenge: (1) new scientific understanding of film deterioration, (2) greater public and scholarly interest in diverse types of American films, and (3) declining public funding. Given these changes, continuing business as usual is no longer possible.
The goal of this national plan is to rethink film preservation practice and to suggest where the most promising opportunities lie. Each of these three broad changes has brought huge additional problems to preservationists, but the changes are not without certain opportunities. Recent scientific knowledge about film deterioration, for instance, brings disheartening evidence that extensive deterioration exists not simply in volatile pre1950 nitrate-base film but in later acetate "safety" film as well. And yet, there is equally solid evidence that cool-and-dry storage conditions can significantly retard every variety of film deterioration. One challenge for the national plan, then, is to use this new technical knowledge to advantage.
Similarly discouraging is the sheer number of films needing preservation attention. One common thread in the public testimony and written submissions in Film Preservation 1993 is that, with the single exception of the Hollywood sound feature, large facets of American film production are seriously neglected by current preservation efforts, notably the vast majority of newsreels, documentaries, independent features, and avant-garde works. The demands to suidy and use such records of America's cultural memory are bringing added costs and responsibilities to archives. Fortunately, there is increasing reason to belidve that the preservation of the older Hollywood feature, long the central emphasis among large public archives, might be supported by commercial interests, allowing public funds to be directed to other film types. With new markets for "classic" features, major studios are investing in sophisticated storage facilities and in restorations of motion pictures for which they own rights. Public archives still have a role in ensuring that Hollywood films are available for study and enjoyment, but the implications of these broad shifts in responsibility need to be incorporated into a national plan.
The Changing Context of Film Preservation