Photo of Oscar nominated documentary LAS MADRES: THE MOTHERS OF PLAZA DE MAYO A film by Susana Blaustein and Lourdes Portillo
To Women’s Film Preservation Fund Friends and Supporters:
A new year that brings with it a renewed optimism as we start to see a glimmer of normalcy on the horizon.
In January 2020, the Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) began the year with the restoration premiere of Jan Oxenberg’s HOME MOVIE (1973) at MoMA’s To Save and Project series. And by spring – like everyone – we were learning how to Zoom our meetings, screenings and panels. Due to Covid, our industry was forced to work under significant limitations. With these new circumstances in mind, WFPF decided to extend its 2020 grant deadline from 2020 to May 1st, 2021.
Throughout 2020, the Fund pivoted to streaming program events with great panelists. In November, we streamed Julie Dash’s critically acclaimed film ILLUSIONS (1983) as part of NYWIFT’s Member Screening Series, which was followed by an informative and lively Q&A with Jillian Borders (UCLA) and Michelle Materre (The New School) on Black Cinema and film preservation. And in December, the film was nominated to the National Film Registry.
In January 2021, WFPF streamed a special silent era film program Trailblazers of Early Cinema followed by a wonderful Q&A with WFPF founder Barbara Moss, independent film researcher Buckey Grimm, and audio-visual curator-archivist Kim Tomadjoglou. The program and panel are available to view on HERFLIX.com.
As film preservation changes, along with the dialogue of best practices, our mission has never changed – to preserve, restore and archive the wide range of women-led work, so future generations can learn from and enjoy our cultural history.
As with everyone, the pandemic has brought hardships and as a result the WFPF must rely on individual support now more than ever. WFPF is grateful to the generosity of its lab partners, but the WFPF must still raise significant funds to cover the growing costs of preservation and the demand to create digital versions for wider exhibition.
We boast a wide roster of films (with some over 100 years old!), that WFPF has preserved. From historical news reels, home movies, Oscar-winning documentaries, early 1940’s Black Hollywood to 2nd wave feminism and acclaimed experimental works. Our mission is to save diverse stories made by and about women and women identifying individuals.
So many of us are experiencing economic stress, but for those who are able to make a contribution, please visit: https://www.nywift.org/donate/donate-to-the-wfpf/
Check contributions should be written to “New York Women in Film & Television” with “for the WFPF” on the memo line and mailed to:
New York Women in Film & Television
WFPF
6 East 39th Street, Suite 1200
New York, NY 10016
We thank you again for your continued support of efforts to preserve, protect and program these amazing women made films.
Kirsten Larvick and Erika Yeomans, Co-Chairs, Women’s Film Preservation Fund
Cynthia Lopez, Executive Director, New York Women in Film & Television
