UCLA non-profit archive spotlights independent films
By Emily Camastra
Sept. 21, 2002 9:00 p.m.
By Emily Camastra
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
After a summer of suffocating blockbusters, the UCLA Film and
Television Archive is here to inject viewers with a variety of
films from independent and international filmmakers.
The archive showcases an extensive mix of over 400 films and
videos a year, combining the new with classic, and the mainstream
with cutting-edge. With four to five screenings a week held at the
James Bridge Theatre in Melnitz Hall, the Film and TV Archive at
UCLA is one of the most prominent non-profit exhibition entities in
the world. The archive gets support and brings important people
from the film world such as acclaimed director Curtis Hanson
(featured on the cover directing “Wonder Boys”), the
director of the Eminem movie, will be working extensively with the
archive this year.
Programming Director David Pendelton explains in selecting which
films to present, the Archive attempts to expose audiences to
different styles of filmmaking.
“A few of our projects this year include a series of
current films from Korea, a tribute to the films of influential
directors Aleksandr Dovzhenko and Ida Lupino, a compilation of
Chinese martial arts films, and a showcase of Hollywood production
designers,” Pendelton said.
In addition to the annual film festivals from Latin America and
Iran, the Archive heightens its profile in the international arena
by hosting the world premieres of independent films from Uruguay to
Russia.
“We try to be an alternative to what you would find in
Westwood,” said Pendelton. He and fellow archivists travel to
film festivals across the world in search of innovative films.
“We’re not strictly artsy movies,” Pendelton
said. “In fact, the films from Korea were extremely popular
when they were released there and even outgrossed “˜The Lord
of the Rings’.”
Luis Arellano, a second-year political science student, attended
the Latin American series last year.
“It’s refreshing to get the chance to see films that
are made on such a personal level without catering to the
expectations of American audiences,” Arellano said.
The archive also functions as a resource and research tool. The
Archive Research and Study Center, in College library, contains
over 220,000 films and TV shows, 27 million feet of newsreel
spanning the 20th Century, and over 100,000 news and public affairs
programs.
“It’s a great resource for students and
scholars,” said Jim Williamson, ARSC manager. “We not
only get students coming in to view films as research for a paper,
but screenwriters and directors are also frequent visitors when
researching historical events for their scripts.”
The archive is accessible through Orion 2, the UCLA library
computer system. Students and researchers can search the archive
records from their own computers and set up an appointment to view
the material in an instructional media lab in College library.
For further information for the events planned for this year,
visit www.cinema.ucla.edu or call 310-206-FILM.
