Women's Film Preservation Fund
Four Ways to Support the Fund
- Apply for a WFPF grant.
- Donate what you can or select a support level.
- Shop in our store for a piece of cinema history.
- Join the committee (email Drake Stutesman at greenly@earthlink.net).
- In February 2013, WFPF launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to preserve Seven Women Seven Sins (1986) directed by Maxi Cohen, Helke Sander, Bette Gordon, Chantal Akerman, Valie Export, Laurence Gavron, and Ulrike Ottinger. Check it out!
- In August 2012, WFPF unveiled a new video highlighting its preservation work. The video (above) includes footage from Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning documentary Harlan County U.S.A. (1976), That Man of Mine (1947) starring Ruby Dee, and You Are Not I (1981) by Sara Driver, among many others.
- On July 1, 2012, Susan Lazarus represented the WFPF at the celebration of the birth of the first woman director, Alice Guy Blache, and the unveiling of a new grave marker from the Fort Lee Film Commission in NJ.
- On June 25, 2012, the WFPF was proud to be honored by Anthology Film Archives at its annual Film Preservation Honors.
Our Mission
- To identify and preserve American films in which women have played a significant creative role
- To present these restored films publicly as a way to increase awareness of women's contribution to the medium and the importance of film preservation
- To contribute to enhanced knowledge of the important role of women in film history
- To work with organizations with similar goals, sharing resources and information
We are committed to restoring and preserving films and footage that represent diverse voices, visions and techniques regardless of vintage. Genres include silent and early color films, experimental and independent films, and political and social documentaries. WFPF also preserves "orphan films"—forgotten or neglected films that have no clear copyright holder, obscuring the responsibility for preservation.
Individuals and not-for-profit organizations (film archives, educational institutions, media arts centers) are eligible to apply for grants of up to $10,000. Grants are awarded annually. Applications are due in the fall. A panel of professional filmmakers, film historians, preservationists, curators, and educators reviews all applications and their selections are announced the following spring.
What Is Film Preservation?
- Creation of new prints or negatives
- Film inspection and repair
- Restoration of pictures and/or soundtrack
- Duplication of the original film onto more stable safety film stock
- Provision of proper storage with controlled temperature and humidity
- Public access through screenings and educational programing
Women were part of the film industry from its inception, working on both coasts as directors, producers, and studio heads, as well as actors. Alice Guy-Blaché is considered one of the first people—male or female—to direct a narrative film. WFPF helped to preserve two of her shorts, Matrimony's Speed Limit and A House Divided (1913) as part of its inaugural project. Mixed Pets (1911), Guy-Blaché’s earliest extant film from her studio Solax, was preserved through a WFPF grant in 2009, and screened, along with three other WFPF films, at the 2009 Alice Guy Blaché retrospective at the Whitney Museum. Our other inaugural project was the preservation of two films by Lois Weber, the 1913 short How Men Propose and the 1921 feature Too Wise Wives.
There isn't enough money to save all the films that are in danger of being lost. Film archives, museums and educational educations have to make difficult decisions about which films will and will not be saved. WFPF exists to make sure that films by women are included in those that are preserved for posterity.
The WFPF is funded, in part, by:
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