Decaying Cinema: Celluloid Film and the Female Cinema

Over the course of the year my research has focused mainly on the preservation of film history, specifically celluloid film. Film is important because it captures the culture of society at the time in which it’s made. Celluloid film gives us a key look into the history of global culture, and also plays a vital role in the study of modern and future cinema. Through two main projects I was able to focus on restoring celluloid film to repair and maintain this very history. My first main project has been to repair a collection of 16mm films within the Film Studies department, I spent time cleaning and splicing various prints to get them in a working condition for proper screening. This restoration process promotes future use of these films inside and outside of the classroom, allowing them to serve as artifacts of the teachable history in which they exist within. My second major project has been to work with Professor Tami Williams on an upcoming ‘Women Pioneers of Silent Film’ Festival. This project allowed me to take part in reshaping the history of early women film directors by showcasing their films and inviting female scholars to discuss the works. Often these pivotal characters of early cinema are glossed over or forgotten, their important films forever lost. This project will bring these films to the public eye so that these women and their achievements can be celebrated. Women are frequently left out of history, and this is a part of the movement to change that. The restoration of celluloid film allows for the preservation of cinema history that reveals important global cultural changes, as well as the contributions of women in the industry that might have otherwise been undiscovered