SJSU SAASC’s March event was kindly presented by archivists Mark Quigley and Todd Wiener from the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The UCLA Film and Television Archive is the second largest public repository of moving images in the United States (the first being the Library of Congress). With its impressive title, the UCLA Film and Television Archive has over 450,000 moving image holdings from motion pictures, television, and newsreels. Their presentation showcased independent collections that hope to “illuminate the art, culture, history, and work of people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ people.” Social justice and equitable representation are two chief topics that the UCLA Film and Television Archive focuses on, which was such a wonderful statement given by this prolific organization.
Since “most of the collections held at UCLA contain intellectual property that is owned by someone else, rights restrictions often do limit” what can be shown to the public and shared with documentarians and filmmakers. The archive’s media licensing division works directly with media makers to legally clear rights and consequently, provide archival footage to people who want to access it. 120 state-of-the-art vaults (some are even underground to protect nitrate film!) in Santa Clarita hold the treasures of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The archive became part of UCLA’s library in 2019, which allowed students and community members to learn more about their meaningful work. Pre-Covid, the archive hosted public programming, screenings, symposia, and discussions at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater. During the pandemic, the UCLA Film and Television Archive is releasing virtual screening rooms. Their most recent online programs highlighted Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, LGBTQ+ families, and the suffrage movement. Check out www.cinema.ucla.edu if you’re interested, or if you want to access other free screenings.
The presenters also divulged staggering statistics: “50% of all films produced in the United States prior to 1950 are lost. Equally daunting, much surviving historic television now exists only on aging kinescopes and obsolete video formats.” The team therefore spends much time, energy, and resources to preserve analog films. Digital techniques are labor-intensive (frame-by-frame editing) and expensive (sometimes up to several hundred thousand dollars), yet they restore damaged and grainy moving images beautifully. Generous funding is provided by various foundations and grant agencies. Like many other archives, the UCLA Film and Television Archive is pursuing the strenuous, yet important task of preserving their collections for current and future generations to enjoy. Meeting attendees were able to watch rare clips of stories, outtakes, and trims from historically underrepresented voices.
It was clear throughout the presentation that Quigley and Wiener are passionate about their work. Their enthusiasm for uplifting groups that are often ignored was fantastic to experience. The valuable information they provided about their archive was truly a joy to learn about. SJSU SAASC uploads all of our Zoom meetings to our YouTube channel, so browse through to access this or previous presentations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6puQeiFF-J6KuRc6_2WQcQ.
Image Attribution: A kinescope at the Canada Museum of Science & Technology in Ottawa. Peter Lindell, Canada Science and Technology Museum, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons