New Prints from Columbia Pictures
A print is just a print, you might think; but as time goes by, the urgency of film preservation fundamentally increases. We are dependent on those who restore and preserve films for the cinema heritage we enjoy, study, and can no longer take for granted. And it is not just film archives in the nonprofit sector that engage in this important activity; film studios do their part in preserving their libraries. Even when the impetus is to create the best possible 35mm print from which to make a DVD, often new negatives must be made from original elements, sound may need to be cleaned up, color digitally restored. It's a slow process, and one on which only the most dedicated film preservationists embark.
The Columbia Pictures library is held by Sony Pictures, which is preserving every title in the Columbia collection. PFA audiences continue to be the beneficiaries of this endeavor. In December, during our series of Budd Boetticher films from Sony, preservation experts Grover Crisp and Michael Friend made a visit to PFA to share with the audience film clips demonstrating the process of color restoration that went into these particular westerns.
Our current series of gorgeous prints from the Columbia collection, So Dark the Light, showcases black and white. From thrillers and noirs to message films, these are studies in dark and light, canvases that would be unimaginable in color. Some people really do dream in black and white.
