Recent Film Restorations

[beamish14]

4K resto of Leisen´s Midnight, screening in Sydney and Melbourne May 1 and May 9:
https://filmalert101.blogspot.com/- Feb. 19 post

Relevant quote:
"For this restoration, Universal Pictures primarily used a 35mm nitrate comp fine grain. The picture element was dry gate scanned in 4K on an ARRI film scanner for a 4K workflow. Universal applied digital processes to improve flicker and stability, address diagonal streaking issues, and clean up film damage, dirt, scratches, and stains. Audio was restored from the 35mm comp fine grain. Digital audio restoration tools were applied to reduce optical anomalies, noise floor, hum, rumble, and sibilance where possible. Restoration services conducted by NBCUniversal StudioPost."

My partner bought Universal’s crappy DVD 2 weeks ago, so you’re welcome, everyone

[ryannichols7]

how soon will Indicator/Kino/Criterion bring this one out? that's the question. curious to see who it ends up with

[Matt]

I pray it’s Indicator. Criterion will just give us a Farran Smith Nehme appreciation video and a short archival interview with Don Ameche and call it a day. $39.95 please. Kino will give us a direct-from-Wikipedia commentary but at least the disc will be $9 within a year.

[Finch]

Hoping for Indicator as well. Better encoding than the Criterion and the best booklets in the business. But I would also buy the Kino if it turned out to be the only option. I'm honestly just very happy the film got restored at all. I don't think we'll see it from anyone before next year, even Kino. All the labels will have mapped out this year's slate several months ago. But maybe Q1 or Q2 2025.

[dwk]

I don't think we'll see it from anyone before next year, even Kino. All the labels will have mapped out this year's slate several months ago. But maybe Q1 or Q2 2025.

Unless one of them had already licensed it and has been waiting for this restoration to be finished, I think Q1 2025 might be too soon.

[senseabove]

IIRC, per KLI, the label that sits on licenses for years has indeed been sitting on this one for years. With any luck, now long enough for it to have been before they were interested in UK rights and Indicator gets this one.

[Stefan Andersson]

Original music by Edmund Meisel for The Holy Mountain, now reconstructed for live performance and recording:
https://www.stummfilm-magazin.de/termin ... ilige-berg
https://www.hr.de/presse/orchester/hr-s ... g-100.html

Edit:
Live performance on Feb. 22 of the 2K digitization (made in 2014) of The Holy Mountain, with Meisel´s score:
https://www.murnau-stiftung.de/news/der ... euer-musik

[Stefan Andersson]

DoP Giuseppe Lanci on restoring Nostalghia in 4K, now playing at Film Forum ("a Kino Lorber release"):
https://thefilmstage.com/nostalghia-cin ... storation/
https://filmforum.org/film/nostalghia

[Stefan Andersson]

Fernando Meirelles on City of God, restoration and director´s cut and more:
https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/city- ... -meirelles

[Stefan Andersson]

Ghatashraddha (Girish Kasaravalli, 1977) to be restored from OCN; financing by Martin Scorsese and George Lucas:
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/m ... aming.html

[Stefan Andersson]

The Lady (Borzage, 1925) "Digital restoration by Library of Congress, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and the Cohen Collection":
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/8917 (also hints at other Norma Talmadge films being restored)

Street of Forgotten Men (Brenon, 1925):
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/8921
https://silentfilm.org/preservation/the ... otten-men/
https://www.popmatters.com/louise-brook ... gotten-men
https://filmint.nu/the-street-of-forgot ... s-gladysz/

Padlocked (Dwan, 1926):
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/8922

[Stefan Andersson]

2024 UCLA Festival of Preservation:
https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/2024/ucl ... eservation
Some titles:
Pack Up Your Troubles
Topper Takes a Trip
Time of the Heathen
SLAM
Button, Button (Way Out TV episode)
Smog (Franco Rossi, 1962): "The Archive’s new restoration runs 12 minutes longer than the print previously screened at the Billy Wilder Theater thanks to additional footage from a fine grain master positive of the film discovered at Warner Bros."

[beamish14]

2024 UCLA Festival of Preservation:
https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/2024/ucl ... eservation
Some titles:
Pack Up Your Troubles
Topper Takes a Trip
Time of the Heathen
SLAM
Button, Button (Way Out TV episode)
Smog (Franco Rossi, 1962): "The Archive’s new restoration runs 12 minutes longer than the print previously screened at the Billy Wilder Theater thanks to additional footage from a fine grain master positive of the film discovered at Warner Bros."

Chicana/Requiem-29 are the ones I’m really excited about

I wonder if that Richard Pryor Special can actually get a commercial release

[Stefan Andersson]

Cinématheque Francaise´s Toute la mémoire du monde is now Festival du Cinématheque; 2024 program includes restorations of
The Mortal Storm
The Suspect, Siodmak
Priest of Darkness, Yamanaka
Macario
Enamorada
La Provinciale, Soldati
Die Strasse, Grune
Les rendez-vous de la quais, Carpita
Tire au flanc
Akerman´s episode of Paris vu par...20 ans après
Conte cruel, Gaston Modot
The Lady from Constantinople and other films by Judit Élek

https://www.cinematheque.fr/seance/41102.html

Stefan Droessler on Die Strasse:
https://www.weimarcinema.org/essay/Drossler

[Stefan Andersson]

Jan-Christopher Horak on A Midsummer Night´s Dream, Germany 1925:
https://archivalspaces.com/2023/08/04/3 ... hts-dream/

Showing at this year´s UCLA Festival of Preservation:
https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/2024/ucl ... eservation

[Stefan Andersson]

Preview of 2024 Cinema Ritrovato:
https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... il-cr2024/

Includes:
A 5K resto of an unnamed film by Kozaburo Yoshimura

Dietrich, Yoshimura, Germi, Litvak strands
A "Dark Heimat" strand of postwar German films such as Geheimnisvolle Tiefe (Mysterious Shadows, 1949) by Georg W. Pabst

[jmj713]

https://www.indiewire.com/news/general- ... 234964013/

[Stefan Andersson]

Australia´s Cinema Reborn 2024:
Sopyonje, Kwon-taek, 2k resto
Il Grido, 4k resto
Ishanou, Aribam Syam Sharma, 4k resto
Yeelen, 2k resto
La Captive, 4k resto
Three to Go, Brian Hannant, Oliver Howes, Peter Weir, 2k resto
Golden Coach, 4k UHD resto

https://cinemareborn.com.au/2024-Program



Toute une nuit, Akerman, restored; relevant quote:
"restored with the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Brussels-Capital Region. Originally shot in 16mm, this element is currently considered lost. The 35mm CRI negative was scanned in 2K and restored. The color grading was done by the film’s director of photography, Caroline Champetier AFC, and Frédéric Savoir (Amazing Digital Studios)."
https://chantalakerman.foundation/akerm ... sels-2022/

[hearthesilence]

Australia´s Cinema Reborn 2024:
Sopyonje, Kwon-taek, 2k resto
Il Grido, 4k resto
Ishanou, Aribam Syam Sharma, 4k resto
Yeelen, 2k resto
La Captive, 4k resto
Three to Go, Brian Hannant, Oliver Howes, Peter Weir, 2k resto
Golden Coach, 4k UHD resto

https://cinemareborn.com.au/2024-Program

Toute une nuit, Akerman, restored; relevant quote:
"restored with the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Brussels-Capital Region. Originally shot in 16mm, this element is currently considered lost. The 35mm CRI negative was scanned in 2K and restored. The color grading was done by the film’s director of photography, Caroline Champetier AFC, and Frédéric Savoir (Amazing Digital Studios)."
https://chantalakerman.foundation/akerm ... sels-2022/

Wonderful news all around. I've been waiting for a Blu-ray of Il Grido since 2009 when I was knocked out by a 35mm screening at BAM's Antonioni retrospective - that and many others quickly elevated him as one of my all-time favorites. And I recently saw DCP's of La Captive and Yeelen (I think last year at Lincoln Center) that weren't bad but clearly were early digital transfers. My first time seeing both as well, and they're great, especially Yeelen (which was all the more memorable with Souleymane Cissé there and surprisingly Moussa Sène Absa sitting next to me - we both shared a variation of a contemplative "WOW" at the very end).

[Stefan Andersson]

Thaïs (1916), co-directed by Italian futurist Anton Giulio Bragaglia and Riccardo Cassano, restored:
https://www.fondazionecsc.it/en/csc-cin ... futurista/

[Stefan Andersson]

2K and 4K restos of four Im Kwon-taek films:
https://cinemareborn.com.au/Korean-Show ... Im-Kwon-Ta

[hearthesilence]

Film Foundation just posted this on IG:

We’re so excited that the 15th annual @tcm Classic Film Festival kicks off this Thursday, April 18th in Hollywood and runs through April 24th. There are so many great films screening this year, including 13 Film Foundation restorations! Nine of those are screening together in an incredible World Premiere program entitled “Back From the Ink: Restored Animated Shorts” that features films by animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer (@fleischertoons), George Pal, and Mannie Davis, plus live accompaniment from Ben Model (@silentfilmmusic) and restoration collaborator @macfarlaneseth in person. Also screening this year are a 4K restoration of Federico Fellini’s LA STRADA (1954), a World Premiere 4K restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) which is screening in IMAX with special guest @nmeyers, a World Premiere restoration of Edward Cahn’s LAW AND ORDER (1932) with @theacademy’s @brendanconnelljr in person, and a World Premiere restoration of John Ford’s masterpiece THE SEARCHERS (1956) with special guest Alexander Payne. Don’t miss these films and more thanks to our dear friends @tcm.

So maybe we'll get those UHD's of North by Northwest and The Searchers this year. (I HOPE!)

[Stefan Andersson]

Detailed info about restoring The Searchers:
https://www.in70mm.com/presents/1954_vi ... /index.htm

[tenia]

The full frame scanning resolution was ~13K (horizontal) which was made by scanning each frame in half (4 perf) at 6.5K and then digitally stitching the two halves together to create the full VistaVision original frame.

[hearthesilence]

Holy shit this is great. IIRC they also struck 70mm prints from Vertigo due to the VistaVision format. I was really green at the time, but I remember reading some article in the Tribune (could very well have been an interview with Robert A. Harris) that pretty much explained in layman's terms why it was sensible to do so in order to both capture the maximum fidelity and to make it more accessible for exhibition. It's still kind of mindboggling to me that you could shoot in a film format that actually runs sideways.