Search the Community

https://hyperallergic.com/538404/momas-dave-kehr-on-film-preservation-and-why-theres-never-enough-money/ Marking its 17th edition this year, the Museum of Modern Art’s To Save and Project festival celebrates newly preserved and restored films, both from the museum’s collection and other archives and distributors from around the world. This year’s slate included the premieres of restorations of silent films by D.W. Griffith and Raoul Walsh, a collection of amateur films in the National Film Registry, a previously unreleased PSA about age discrimination from Night of the Living Dead director George Romeo, and more. To Save and Project represents New York’s biggest film preservation event of the year. Hyperallergic spoke to Dave Kehr, a curator in MoMA’s Department of Film and former film critic at the Chicago Reader and the New York Times, about this year’s festival. The conversation ultimately broadened into how To Save and Project has evolved over the years, how digital has radically changed restoration practices, the funding difficulties archives face, and the generational shift occurring in the film preservation field. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. * * *