Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the British Film Institute:
The
BFI is launching two national projects as part of its LONG LIVE FILM
campaign to celebrate the BFI Archive’s 75th birthday.
LONG
LIVE FILM
will give members of the public a unique opportunity to adopt a Hitchcock film
with a fund-raising appeal to restore his early films: RESCUE THE HITCHCOCK
9.
And
there’s a national hunt for the BFI’s 75 MOST WANTED FILMS, a search for
important but elusive films, including the only missing Hitchcock film, The
Mountain Eagle.
RESCUE THE
HITCHCOCK 9
Alfred
Hitchcock’s early silent films need urgent attention to restore them to their
former glory. The BFI needs YOUR help to bring these cinematic masterpieces
back to life and secure them for future generations as the BFI celebrates 75
years of the BFI National Archive.
A
dedicated cinema trailer, voiced by Kenneth Branagh, and a new website are part
of the campaign. www.bfi.org.uk/saveafilm
Every
penny counts and even small amounts can add up to help us reach our target of
£1 million. From July onwards, members of the public who would like to save an
important and historic film can contribute by visiting www.bfi.org/saveafilm.
Donors with upwards of £5,000 ADOPT a specific film from the shortlist
and receive an on-screen credit, whilst a donation of £100,000 will secure the
full restoration of an individual film with their name in the credits. All
donations are welcome but £25 and upwards will help RESCUE one of the
films, from 50cm of film to restoring a whole scene, and make the contributor a
BFI Supporter, receiving regular updates about the status of the restoration
while having the satisfaction of knowing that they have helped to save a
crucial part of British cultural history. With enough support, we also hope to
be able to commission a new score for each film from a major composer of
international standing.
Hitchcock
is internationally recognised as one of Britain's greatest ever film-makers. 30
years since his death he remains one of the world's most influential and
important directors. Funds permitting, we hope to start restoration work on The
Farmer's Wife (1928), a delightfully unexpected comedy of a farmer in
search of rural matrimony.
Hitchcock's
early films are among the finest achievements of British silent cinema. On its
first release The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1926) was acclaimed
as a masterpiece and his subsequent films refined his techniques of stunning
visual composition, richly cinematic storytelling linked to dramatic invention,
which are uniquely Hitchcock.
New
digital techniques mean that we are now in a position to transform scratched
and damaged negatives into beautiful viewing copies. The original nitrate
materials for all these films are in a very poor state as decades of wear and
tear have taken their toll.