Judiciary HomepageOn behalf of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), I am writing to urge passage of H.R. 1734, the National Film Preservation Act of 1995 and the National Film Preservation Foundation Act. AMIA currently represents nearly 250 professional archivists working at more than 100 institutions in both the public and private sectors. For the purpose of this statement, I will confine my remarks to Title II, which establishes a federally chartered foundation dedicated to the preservation of American motion pictures.
In 1992, Congress asked the National Film Preservation Board to prepare a report on the nationwide efforts to preserve American motion pictures. The Board accomplished this in two stages: (1) The Board undertook a one year study to determine the current state of film preservation efforts in the U.S. This study, published in June of 1993 under the title FILM PRESERVATION 1993, persuasively demonstrated that America's film heritage is at serious risk. Of films made from 1895-1950, less than half survive. Many post-1950 films also are lost or endangered. Funding for film preservation, has fallen to less than half its 1980 level, when adjusted for inflation. (2) The Board oversaw the development of a national plan to address the problems identified in FILM PRESERVATION 1993. For the first time, archivists, educators, film-makers, technical specialists, and film industry executives were brought together to find solutions to preservation problems. The resulting plan, published in August of 1994 under the title REDEFINING FILM PRESERVATION, represents the consensus which emerged from this process.
The centerpiece of the national plan is the creation of a federally chartered foundation to help insure preservation of and access to America's film heritage. Working with the film preservation community, the foundation will raise private sector funds and will be eligible for limited federal matching funds. The foundation, in turn, will establish grant programs to make its assets available to non-profit film institutions throughout the country.
The foundation's primary role will be to help preserve those films which are held in the public trust by non-profit institutions and which will not survive without public intervention. Such films constitute a large and indispensable portion of America's film heritage. They include newsreels, documentaries and actuality footage, independent and avant-garde films, socially significant amateur footage, regional materials of historical interest, and films that have fallen into the public domain. Important collections of such films exist in each of the fifty states. They can be found in hundreds of archives, museums, historical societies, libraries and universities. These institutions cannot afford on their own adequately to preserve, store, or make their collection accessible to the public. Each year the nation's film archives are losing unique footage -- historically and culturally valuable footage which deteriorates beyond saving and is gone forever.
What is needed urgently is the new approach represented by the proposed national film preservation foundation. Unlike the isolated efforts of individual archives, the foundation will have the national base to: (a) maximize private sector fundraising, (b) foster public-private partnerships around preservation initiatives, (c) insure the most effective use of every preservation dollar, and (d) help address problems beyond the scope of any one institution. For these reasons, I urge you to support H.R. 1734, including Title II.
On behalf of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), I am writing in support of H.R. 1734, the National Film Preservation Act of 1995 (Title I) and the National Film Preservation Foundation Act (Title 11). AMIA is a professional association established to provide a means for cooperation among individuals concerned with the preservation and use of moving image materials. AMIA currently represents nearly 250 professional archivists working at more than 100 institutions in both the public and private sectors. Its members constitute most of the working professionals in the film archive field.
I believe strongly that passage of H.R. 1734 is vital to insuring preservation of and access to America's film heritage. For the purpose of this statement, I will confine my remarks to Title 11. which establishes a federally chartered foundation dedicated to the preservation of American motion pictures. I would like to say, however, that I also strongly support Title 1, which reauthorizes the National Film Preservation Board. If Congress had not established the Film Board, the nation's film preservation crisis may never have been addressed in a cooperative and comprehensive manner, and the Board's reauthorization is an indispensable element in assuring that the progress made to date can be continued and expanded.
I. The National Film Preservation Report.
I would like to begin by providing a very brief overview of the process which. has resulted in the proposal to create a national film preservation foundation.
Congress originally established the National Film Preservation Board in 1988. When the Board was reauthorized in 1992, Congress added to its duties the task of preparing a comprehensive report on the nationwide efforts to preserve American motion pictures. The Board accomplished its assignment in two stages:
STAGE ONE: the National Study. The Board undertook an extensive one year study to determine the current state of film preservation throughout the United States. This study, which was published in June of 1993 under the title FILM PRESERVATION 1993. persuasively demonstrated that America's film heritage is at serious risk. Among its alarming findings were the following:
* Fewer than 20% of feature films from the 1920's survive in complete form; for features from the 1910's, the survival rate falls to 10%. Of films made from 1895-1950, less than half survive.
* Films made after 1950 face several serious threats to their survival, including color fading," the so-called " vinegar syndrome. "and soundtrack deterioration.
* Many American films can be found only in foreign archives.
* Funding for film preservation. which has never been adequate, has fallen to considerably less than half its 1980 level, when adjusted for inflation.
STAGE TWO: the National Plan. The Board next oversaw the creation of a national plan to address the problems identified in FILM PRESERVATION 1993. The process of arriving at this plan was unprecedented and historic in nature. For the first time, archivists, educators, film-makers, technical specialists, and entertainment industry executives all came together to discuss, negotiate, occasionally to argue, but ultimately to find solutions to film preservation problems. More than thirty people directly participated as members of five task forces and committees, which met in person or by conference call more than twenty times over a period of six months. Through the task force and committee members, the discussions reached out to hundreds of others working in all the professions and disciplines mentioned above. The resulting plan, which was published in August of 1994 under the title REDEFINING FILM PRESERVATION, represents the consensus which emerged from this process. I think I am safe in saying that it is widely supported by all elements of the film community involved with preservation.
The hallmark of the plan is the recognition that the preservation of America's film heritage requires a comprehensive. meaningful and ongoing partnership among public and non-profit archives, the film industry, the creative community, the educational community, other segments of the private sector, and the government.
II. The National Film Preservation Foundation .
In all, the national plan outlines thirty-one specific recommendations; among these are proposals for:
* Redesigning preservation policies to underscore the importance of low-temperature, low-humidity storage in retarding film deterioration.
* Increasing the availability of films for education, research and public exhibition.
* Developing public-private partnerships to restore selected films, share preservation information, and repatriate "lost" American films from foreign archives.
However. the key proposal which serves as the necessary centerpiece for the entire plan is to create a new federally- chartered foundation which would raise funds for two related purposes: (1) to promote the preservation of and public access to America's film heritage, concentrating on those films not preserved by commercial interests, and (2) to further the implementation of other components of the national plan and related activities.
The basic concept of the foundation is simple. It is envisioned as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the District of Columbia. Working in close coordination with the film preservation community, it will seek to raise private gifts (both cash donations and in-kind contributions) and will be eligible to match those gifts with a limited amount of federal funds.
The foundation in turn will establish grant programs to make its assets available to non-profit film preserving institutions throughout the country. Grants will be awarded only for specific projects, and no foundation funds will be used to cover administrative overhead on any project. The types of projects eligible for funding might include: grants to fund the archival preservation and restoration of film collections; grants to help establish regional climate controlled storage facilities to house endangered collections from many institutions; grants to make collections available to the public through cataloging. the striking of access and exhibition copies, and even the digitizing of collections of special educational interest to facilitate their access over the Internet.
III. The Role of the National Foundation.
Let me be clear about one point. I do not think anyone expects or wants the foundation to fund the preservation of Hollywood studio films, or any films controlled by copyright owners who are capable and willing to preserve them. Such films should be and, in most cases, are being preserved by their owners, either through internal company preservation programs or through collaborative restoration programs established between for-profit companies and non-profit archives.
Rather, the foundation's role will be to help preserve those films which are held in the public trust by non-profit institutions and which simply will not survive without public intervention. These films -- sometimes referred to as "orphan" films -- constitute a very large and indispensable portion of America's film heritage. They include newsreels, documentaries and actuality footage, independent and avant-garde films, socially significant amateur footage, regional materials of historical interest, films that have fallen into the public domain, and other films of cultural and educational value whose copyright owners are unable or unwilling to provide long-term preservation.
Important collections of such films exist in each of the fifty states. They can be found in local archives, museums, historical societies, libraries, universities, and nonprofit associations. And in most cases, the institutions holding these collections cannot afford on their own adequately to preserve them, store them, or make them accessible to the public. This is the reality which film preserving institutions confront on a daily basis. In addition to my work with AMIA, I am the Curator of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Turning to my own institution only as an example, the Archive at UCLA holds many collections of films which are unique or which represent the best remaining copies. Our largest such collection consists of more than 5,000 hours of historical newsreel footage dating from the 1910's through the early 1970's, much of which has never before been seen publicly. It is a virtual treasure trove for the study of the twentieth century. The collection includes extensive footage on most major events in the areas of American government, international relations, social and cultural developments, as well as coverage of most major figures in the fields of politics, business, technology, entertainment, and sports.
Since hearings on H.R. 1734 are being held in Pasadena, I checked the newsreel collection for footage on this area. We have extensive coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parades and Rose Bowl Games dating back at least to the early 1930's. We have films of many events which occurred over the years at the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We also have stories documenting an antique automobile race through the streets of Pasadena in 1936, new techniques being used by the Pasadena police to combat crime in 1938, a rally by the Women's Christian Temperance Union in Pasadena in 1947, and dozens more.
Now, the Archive at UCLA is in a better position than many. We are partially funded by the University of California, and our track record in attracting outside support is probably above average. Despite this success, we cannot properly store all of our materials; we cannot provide students, educators and the public with as much access to our collections as we should; and we cannot hope to preserve all of our films, most of our films, or even a substantial portion of our films -- not without help. And UCLA is not alone. The same can be said, to greater or lesser degrees, of most other archives and film preserving institutions throughout the country. Other major film archives such as the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, the International Museum of Photography and Film, as well as hundreds of important regional, local and specialized archives are all facing similar problems.
Each year the nation's film archives lose unique footage -- historically and culturally valuable footage which is then gone forever. Already in 1995, UCLA has been forced to dispose of almost 30,000 feet of film because it deteriorated, in some cases literally to dust, before we could raise funds to preserve it. And the same situation, on larger and smaller scales, is being repeated all over the country, all the time.
What is needed urgently is the new approach represented by the proposed national film preservation foundation. Unlike the isolated efforts of individual archives, the foundation will have the necessary national base to: (a) maximize private sector fundraising, (b) foster public-private partnerships around preservation initiatives, (c) insure the most effective use of every preservation dollar, and (d) help address problems beyond the scope of any one institution.
For these reasons, I urge you to support H.R. 1734, including Title II. Please give the nation's film archives the national foundation we need to save America's film heritage, for the benefit of the American people.