NEW YORK, NY – December 1, 2021 – The Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) – a world leader in reinstating the cultural legacy of women in the film industry – announces the 2021 PRESERVATION AWARDS:
Poster art from Just Around the Corner
The Affair at Raynor’s (1912), lead actor, Mary Fuller
Just Around the Corner (1921), Frances Marion
Kiss Grandmama Goodbye (1989), Debra J. Robinson
One Hand Don‘t Clap (1988), Kavery Kaul
Ruth Storm Collection (1930s-1940s), Ruth Storm
Sometimes I Wonder Who I Am (1969), Liane Brandon
Spirit to Spirit: Nikki Giovanni (1986), Mirra Bank
Surviva (1980), Ariel Dougherty
Yudie (1975), Mirra Bank
These motion pictures represent a creative and historic range of the significant work women have given to the cinematic art form. The WFPF preservation awards will ensure that these at-risk films will be preserved and archived at museums and libraries, so film scholars, programmers, educators, and movie lovers can continue to study and enjoy these rare and important films. The WFPF’s biennial grant provides funding for the preservation of work that originated on film and is open to individuals and institutions. Awards are made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), many individual donors, and partner archives and post-production facilities.
Women’s Film Preservation Fund
Founded in 1995 by New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the WFPF has preserved nearly 150 American films in which women have played key creative roles. These works by early feminists, social activists and artists embody unique and irreplaceable contributions to American cinematic heritage. WFPF preserved films range from early pioneers such as Lois Weber and Alice Guy Blaché, experimental filmmaker Maya Deren, animator Mary Ellen Bute, to more contemporary directors such as Julie Dash, director and cinematographer Jessie Maple and award-winning documentarians Trinh T. Minh-ha and Barbara Kopple among many more. Several of the films we have had a hand in preserving are now on the National Film Registry. The WFPF is rewriting the film history books, one moving picture at a time. www.womensfilmpreservationfund.org
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT)
NYWIFT advocates for equality in the moving image industry and supports women in every stage of their careers. As the preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York, NYWIFT energizes women by illuminating their achievements, presenting training and professional development programs, awarding scholarships and grants, and providing access to a supportive community of peers.
Learn more at http://www.nywift.org and follow on all social channels @NYWIFT.
2021 AWARDS
The Affair at Raynor’s (1912), Grant Recipient: George Eastman House
The fourth of eleven films in the first U.S. movie serial What Happened to Mary. The story follows the adventures in the life of an intelligent and independent young woman named Mary (Mary Fuller).
Just Around the Corner (1921), Grant Recipient: Eye FilmMuseum
A mother, son and daughter live together in New York’s Lower East Side. Daughter Essie (Sigrid Holmquist) is allured by the city’s nightlife and becomes a theatre usher where she falls for a ticket scalper. One of the only two films directed by screenwriter Frances Marion.
Kiss Grandmama Goodbye (1989), Grant Recipient: Debra J. Robinson
In this multi-generational story, a ten -year-old girl grapples with the death of her friend and mentor, Grandmama, in a Midwestern African American neighborhood during the civil rights era of the 1960s.
Still from One Hand Don’t Clap (dir. Kavery Kaul)
One Hand Don’t Clap (1988), Grant Recipient: Kavery Kaul
The vibrant story of calypso and the emergence of soca through the eyes of two legendary artists, Lord Kitchener the Grandmaster of the music and Calypso Rose, the first woman to break through in a traditionally male arena.
Ruth Storm Collection (1930s-1940s), Grant Recipient: Lesbian Home Movie Project
16mm reels from the home movie collection shot by New York City lesbian schoolteacher Ruth Storm (1888-1981). The films depict lesbian social life with friends, artists and partners in New York and Maine.
Spirit to Spirit: Niki Giovanni (1986), Grant Recipient: Mirra Bank
In this portrait, selected readings by Giovanni reveal the values and personal history which have deeply influenced her poetry. Spirit to Spirit: Nikki Giovanni unveils the sly wit and sharp insights of Giovanni’s multi-layered work.
Sometimes I Wonder Who I Am (1969), Grant Recipient: Liane Brandon
One of the earliest films of the Women’s Movement, a brief portrait of a young mother which grew out of the experiences of a consciousness raising group who found they were not alone in their feelings, emptiness, anger, and fear.
Still from Yudie (dir. Mirra Bank)
Surviva (1980), Grant Recipient: Ariel Dougherty
Rural women artists who share their work unite to bring women’s art publicly forward and available in their community. The last film produced under the banner of a Women Make Movies production before the organization changed focus to distribution.
Yudie (1975), Grant Recipient: Mirra Bank
A sprightly Jewish woman born in the Lower East Side, takes audiences into her confidence as she observes the human condition as it is lived on her beloved streets of New York. Yudie was at the forefront of both indie documentaries reaching the mainstream and is part of the Second Wave Feminist film movement.
