In October, 2004, the Women's Film Preservation Fund (WPFP) premiered the restored Harlan County, USA at its highly-successful event at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. WPFP restored this Academy Award®-winning documentary by Barbara Kopple — one of the country's great documentarians.

Harlan County, USA is a seminal work that continues to inspire moviegoers. The sold-out screening convinced a new audience about the importance and cultural value of film preservation. After the final credits rolled, Hazel Dickens sang the original composition she wrote for the film — They Can Never Keep Us Down — as enthusiastic audience members, lyrics in hand, joined in. After a standing ovation, Janet Maslin of The New York Times moderated a conversation with Kopple, key members of the film's crew and preservation experts.

Women have been part of the film industry — in all areas of production — since its inception. Some of the first filmmakers were female, although much of their work has been lost because of neglect. The Women's Film Preservation Fund is the only organization whose sole mission is to preserve American films in which women have played a significant creative role.

In the 16 years since the WFPF was formed, it has preserved a wide-range of works, including silent, experimental and documentary films. The restoration of Harlan County, USA is significant not only because we have helped to preserve our legacy as female filmmakers, but also because the movie is only 34 years old! Most people associate the need for preservation with older films, but this is not always the case. Part of the Fund's mission is to educate filmmakers — women in particular — about the need to preserve the work we're producing today because, in doing so, we protect our heritage.

The honors for Harlan County, USA continue. The film been selected for inclusion in the Sundance Collection at UCLA. The restored print was presented at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, with a special discussion afterward.