To Save and Project: The Ninth MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, the annual festival of preserved and restored films from archives, studios and distributions around the world is currently on show at MoMA, New York. Featuring festival films by Roger Corman, Forugh Farrokhzad, George Kuchar, Alberto Lattuada, Louis Malle, Agnes Martin, Georges M茅li猫s, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Jean Rouch, and Seijun Suzuki, this year’s festival comprises over 35 films from 14 countries, virtually all of them having their new New York premieres, and some shown in versions never before seen in the United States. Complementing the annual festival is a retrospective devoted to filmmaker Jack Smith, featuring 11 newly struck prints acquired for MoMA’s collection.
Festival highlights includes such masterworks as Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov鈥檚 rediscovered A Nail in the Boot (1931), shown with Salt for Svanetia (1930); Marcel Carn茅鈥檚 fatalist romance Le Quai des brumes (Port of Shadows) (1938), written by Jacques Pr茅vert and starring Jean Gabin; Ra煤l Ruiz鈥檚 first feature film, Tres tristes tigres (1968), made in his native Chile; Ken Loach鈥檚 Kes (1969), a moving portrait of a boy and his kestrel; Claude Lanzmann鈥檚 hauntingly prescient documentary Pourquoi Isra毛l (Israel, Why) (1973), which premiered three days after the Yom Kippur War and forms a loose trilogy with Shoah (1985) and Tsahal (1994); Seijun Suzuki鈥檚 deliriously hyper-stylized Zigeunerweisen (1980); and a tribute to underground legend George Kuchar, featuring new prints of I, An Actress (1977), Wild Night in El Reno (1977), and other short films. Four classics of Italian cinema are also presented: two by Alberto Lattuada, Il Cappotto (1952)鈥攁n adaptation of Gogol鈥檚 The Overcoat鈥攁苍诲 La Spiaggia (1954), the film that helped usher in the commedia all鈥檌taliana of the 1950s; and two starring Marcello Mastroianni, Elio Petri鈥檚 existential crime thriller L鈥橝ssassino (The Assassin) (1961) and Ettore Scola鈥檚 melodramatic satire Dramma della gelosia (The Pizza Triangle/Drama of Jealousy) (1970).
To Save and Project: The Ninth MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation continues until 19 November at The Roy and Niuta Titus Theatres, MoMA, New York.
The Aesthetica Short Film Festival is the first film festival ever to be hosted in the historic city of York. The festival is a celebration of independent film from across the world with 150 films being screened from 30 countries. ASFF opens 3 November and continues until 6 November. For tickets and further information visit the website or call (+44) (0) 1904 629 137.
Images (Top to Bottom)
Cruel and Unusual Comedy from the Desmet Collection of the Eye Film Institute, The Netherlands: A Special Concert. On茅sime horloger. 1912. France. Directed by Jean Durand. Image courtesy of Collection of the EYE Film Institute, The Netherlands.
Dramma della Gelosia (Drama of Jealousy). 1970. Italy. Directed by Ettore Scola. Pictured: Marcello Mastoianni (left), Monica Vitti (center), and Giancarlo Giannini (right). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive.
Cruel and Unusual Comedy from the Desmet Collection of the Eye Film Institute, The Netherlands: A Special Concert. Bebe soign茅 son p猫re. 1912. France. Directed by Louis Feuillade. Image courtesy of Collection of the EYE Film Institute, The Netherlands.
Cruel and Unusual Comedy from the Desmet Collection of the Eye Film Institute, Mr. Smith fait l鈥檕uverture. 1914. France. Image courtesy of Collection of the EYE Film Institute, The Netherlands.
The Adventures of Hajji Baba. 1954. USA. Directed by Don Weis. Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive.
