Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project

Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project
Name	Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project
Founder	Martin Scorsese
Founded	2007
Location	New York City
Focus	film preservation, restoration, cultural heritage
Parent organization	The Film Foundation

Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project is a film preservation initiative established to rescue, restore, and present endangered films from around the world. The project operates through collaborations with museums, archives, festivals, and filmmakers to return lost or deteriorated works to contemporary audiences. It emphasizes global diversity by focusing on national cinemas and auteurs from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Overview

The project functions as a program of The Film Foundation, created by Martin Scorsese, and works with institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Film Institute, and the Cineteca di Bologna. It collaborates with festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival to screen restorations. The initiative engages filmmakers and archivists like Akira Kurosawa (posthumously), Satyajit Ray (posthumously), Ousmane Sembène, Abbas Kiarostami, and Wong Kar-wai to advocate for preservation. By partnering with organizations such as UNESCO, the World Cinema Foundation (precursor efforts), the George Eastman Museum, and the Filmoteca Española, the project advances global cinematic heritage.

History and Formation

The project launched in 2007 amid rising concern about film decay exemplified by crises at institutions like the FIAF member archives and catastrophic losses such as the 1937 Fox vault fire and the UCLA Film & Television Archive preservation challenges. Martin Scorsese announced the initiative during events at venues including the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Film Festival, aligning with contemporaneous efforts by figures like George Stevens Jr. and organizations such as the National Film Preservation Foundation. Early activities drew on precedents in restoration led by technicians from the Cineteca di Bologna and the Fondo per l'Audiovisivo, and engaged scholars from the British Film Institute and the Cinémathèque Française.

Objectives and Selection Criteria

The project prioritizes films at risk of loss due to physical decay, neglect, or political circumstances, emphasizing works of cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance by filmmakers such as Glauber Rocha, Youssef Chahine, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Pedro Costa. Selection involves consultations with archives like the Filmoteca Nacional de México, the National Film Archive of India, the Argentine Film Institute, and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, alongside input from curators at the Tate Modern and academic experts from Columbia University and New York University. Criteria include originality of source material, rarity, provenance, and the potential for new scholarship and exhibition at venues like the British Museum and the National Gallery of Art.

Restoration Projects and Partners

Restorations have been executed with technical partners such as L'Immagine Ritrovata, the Cineteca di Bologna, the Technicolor, the Academy Film Archive, and private laboratories in collaboration with archives including the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the Cineteca Nacional, the Cinemateca Brasileira, and the Egyptian National Film Center. The project has coordinated film elements, negative scanning, color timing, audio preservation, and digital intermediate workflows involving engineers trained under programs at the George Eastman Museum and the British Film Institute. Screenings and retrospectives have been mounted at festivals and institutions including the San Francisco International Film Festival, La Biennale di Venezia, and the New York Film Festival.

Notable Restored Films

Restorations credited to the project include milestones like The Housemaid (Korean classic), Pather Panchali-era works and related South Asian titles, seminal African films by Ousmane Sembène and Sembène Ousmane’s contemporaries, Latin American landmarks such as Byron Haskin-era prints and Glauber Rocha’s key titles, and Middle Eastern rarities from directors like Youssef Chahine. The project restored works by auteurs including Abbas Kiarostami, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Kore-eda Hirokazu, and Ritwik Ghatak, leading to revived prints shown at the Cannes Classics strand, the FIAPF-affiliated festivals, and retrospectives at the Lincoln Center.

Impact and Reception

Scholars and critics from outlets connected to institutions like Sight & Sound, the New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, and Cahiers du Cinéma have credited the project with reshaping perceptions of global film canons by reintroducing works by Satyajit Ray, Ousmane Sembène, Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Federico Fellini-era contemporaries. Academic programs at universities including University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard University, Yale University, and Stanford University have incorporated restored prints into curricula and symposia supported by grants from foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Reception at festivals like Venice Classics and museum exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art has influenced cataloging, citation, and scholarship in film studies and preservation fields.

Funding and Organizational Structure

The project is administered through The Film Foundation with advisory boards comprised of filmmakers, archivists, and museum directors including representatives from Martin Scorsese, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Film Institute, and the George Eastman Museum. Funding sources encompass private philanthropy from donors linked to institutions like the Ford Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, grants coordinated with governmental cultural agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts and collaborations with international bodies like UNESCO. Operational partnerships engage archives including the Cineteca di Bologna, the Academy Film Archive, and the Filmoteca Española to manage logistics, conservation workflows, and public programming.

Category:Film preservation organizations