Film series: Restorations & Rediscoveries
Cornell Cinema continues its long tradition of showcasing recent film restoration projects and rediscovered masterpieces.
For much of cinema history, movies were made on 16mm and 35mm film stocks, which are susceptible to damage from heat, moisture, light, general use, and neglect and exist in a finite number of copies. This material reality leaves many films at risk of being lost and makes film restoration an important part of collections care and cultural preservation.
Archivists and film preservation institutions around the world work to identify and preserve at-risk films, collaborating with filmmakers and combining surviving film materials with the latest digital technologies to restore the vibrancy, clarity, and depth of an original film print. Our ongoing Cornell Cinema series serves as a reminder of the complex, technological history of cinema and the degree to which preservation is an important — and political — act.
This semester, we are excited to spotlight new 4K restorations of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985) and Taiwan New Wave director Edward Yang’s Yi Yi (2000), as well as a new 35mm print of Fellini’s 8 1/2 (1963), which screens during our opening weekend. We will also present restorations of The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) in memory of the late actress Diane Keaton. After spring break, we will host a special presentation of Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style (1982) in collaboration the Cornell Hip Hop Collection.
