A Recap of our Inaugural Film Preservation Festival

Thank you all for attending the inaugural JBFC Restored and Rediscovered: A Film Preservation Festival this May! With over 21 programs spanning five continents, this series curated by JBFC Senior Programmer Monica Castillo was a one-of-a-kind celebration of the institutions and individuals at the forefront of film preservation and restoration.

From May 13–23, 2024, we showed a host of recently restored films, including classics such as Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom and Carol Reed’s The Third Man, independent rediscoveries like Lee Grant’s Tell Me a Riddle and David Schickele’s Bushman, international gems such as Amir Naderi’s The Runner, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s Death of a Bureaucrat, and Edward Yang’s Mahjong, along with rarely-seen documentaries, shorts, and silent film rarities.

Opening night kicked off with a special screening of Nancy Savoca’s Household Saints, along with a documentary directed by her daughter, Martina Savoca-Guay, about the making of the 1993 classic, which was produced by Jonathan Demme. Audiences were in for a special treat as Nancy Savoca and her husband and producing partner, Rich Guay, were in attendance for a post-screening Q&A and reception with Amy Heller & Dennis Doros of Milestone Films, plus Martina Savoca-Guay and Michael Rispoli.

(L–R: Monica Castillo, Nancy Savoca, Rich Guay, Martina Savoca-Guay, ​Michael Rispoli, Dennis Doros, Amy Heller)

Nancy Savoca and Rich Guay

Household Saints ticketbuyers at the Opening Night reception in the Jane Peck Gallery

A real highlight of the festival was Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker joining us to discuss the restoration of her late husband’s film Peeping Tom. Schoonmaker is the most-nominated editor in Oscar history, and has edited all of Martin Scorsese’s feature films since 1980’s Raging Bull. Attendees at the May 18 screening of Peeping Tom got to hear anecdotes from Schoonmaker about Michael Powell and Martin Scorsese, along with words of wisdom about filmmaking and the industry.

L-R: Series Curator Monica Castillo with Thelma Schoonmaker

Thelma Schoonmaker signing posters after the screening

L-R: Thelma Schoonmaker and Monica Castillo

Other special guests included former JBFC projectionist Justin LaLiberty, who returned to speak about saving and restoring genre films, particularly through his work with Vinegar Syndrome.

L-R: Monica Castillo and Justin LaLiberty

Silent film historian, accompanist, and distributor Ben Model presented a combination lecture + screening about his work over the past decade uncovering, restoring, and reintroducing rare films from the lesser-known luminaries of silent comedy to the public.

Ben Model presenting works from his company, Undercrank Productions

Several screenings were presented with live musical accompaniment, including Ernst Lubitsch’s Lady Windermere’s Fan and Charlie Chaplin’s The Adventurer, which were restored by the Museum of Modern Art, and preceded by an introduction from a MoMA film curator.

Makia Matsumura provided live musical accompaniment for the Lady Windermere’s Fan/The Adventurer screening

The lineup also included a restoration workshop presented by archivists from NYU’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) department. The presentation covered the foundational components of the processes of archiving, and participants even had the opportunity to experiment with basic film repairs.

The event was presented free of cost to all participants.

Series Curator Monica Castillo spoke about Restored and Rediscovered on NPR’s All Things Considered—listen to it here. More press about the festival at Criterion Daily, RogerEbert.com, LoHud, Chronogram, ArtsWestchester, and River Journal.