In celebration of its recent film preservation efforts, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will launch the first-ever “Film-to-Film” Festival, which will run September 27 through September 29, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills and the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

A year ago the Academy Film Archive launched an ambitious effort called “Project Film-to-Film,” aimed at preserving as many films on film as possible over a two-year period. The initiative’s main goal is to take advantage of the current, but threatened, availability of film stock to create new prints of a diverse range of motion pictures, encompassing the whole history of the art form.

More than 390 new prints have already been created from the best available film elements, covering significant narrative features and documentaries, as well as experimental, animated and short film titles. The wide variety of titles range from ‘Navajo’, the only film to receive Oscarnominations for both Documentary Feature and Cinematography, to ‘Naked Yoga’, a short once presumed lost, and ‘Carnival of Souls’, a cult favorite that has been rescued from late-night television and restored to the big screen.

The complete “Film-to-Film” Festival schedule is as follows:

Thursday, September 27 — Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 7:30 p.m.

‘Brazil’ (1985), Original Director’s Cut (35mm, color, 142 min.): Onstage discussion with Katherine Helmond and Arnon Milchan

Writer-director Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” is set in an alternative reality “somewhere in the 20th century,” where civil servant Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) fights a hopeless battle against a totalitarian state. The film earned Academy Award nominations for Original Screenplay (Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown) and Art Direction (Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray). The stellar supporting cast includes Helmond, Jim Broadbent, Robert De Niro, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Charles McKeown and Michael Palin.

Friday, September 28 — Linwood Dunn Theater, 7:30 p.m.

Animated and live action shorts program: This program illustrates the wide range of films preserved by the Film-to-Film initiative, including a rare short made by the Academy itself, intriguing works by noted animators and the big-screen debut of crooner Phil Harris.

‘Of Men And Demons’, John Hubley and Faith Hubley (1969, 16mm, color, 9 min.)
Academy Award nominee: Cartoon Short Subject
‘So This Is Harris’, Mark Sandrich (1933, 35mm, black-and-white, 28 min.)
Academy Award winner: Comedy Short Subject
‘The Unicycle Race’, Robert Swarthe (1966, 35mm, color, 7 min.)
‘Railway With a Heart of Gold’, Carson “Kit” Davidson (1965, 16mm, color, 15 min.)
‘Screen Actors’, (1950, 35mm, black-and-white, 9 min.)

Friday, September 28 – Linwood Dunn Theater, 9:30 p.m.

Experimental Film Program: The boundaries of the film medium are stretched, ignored and laughed at in these experimental shorts that manipulate sight, sound, narrative and the relationship between filmmaker and spectator.

‘Eye Myth’, Stan Brakhage (1967, 35mm, color, silent 24fps, 9 seconds)
‘Night Mulch & Very’, Stan Brakhage (2001, 35mm, color, silent 24fps, 6 min.)
‘Experiments in Motion Graphics’, John Whitney (1968, 16mm, color, sound, 11min.)
‘Madame Mao’s Lost Love Letters’, Tom Leeser & Diana Wilson (1983, 35mm, color,
3 min.)
‘Babobilicons’, Daina Krumins (1982, 35mm, color, 16 min.)
‘Pencil Booklings’, Kathy Rose (1978, 35mm, color, 14 min.)
‘Furies’, Sara Petty (1977, 35mm, color, 3 min.)
‘Sonoma’, Sky-David, formerly known as Dennis Pies (1977, 35mm, color, 7 min.)
‘Background’, Carmen D’Avino (1973, 35mm, color, 20 min.) Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject

Saturday, September 29 — Linwood Dunn Theater, 2 p.m.

Doc Program #1: The afternoon’s first program illustrates the diverse topics of the documentaries covered by the initiative, with a short about the spiritual aspects of Hatha yoga, and the Maysles brothers’ portrait of movie distributor Joseph E. Levine.

‘Naked Yoga’, Paul Cordsen (1974, 35mm, color, 25 min.) Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
‘Showman’, Albert Maysles and David Maysles (1963, 35mm, black-and-white, 52 min.)

Saturday, September 29 –Linwood Dunn Theater, 4 p.m.

Doc Program #2: The afternoon’s second documentary program features two titles that use a semi-documentary approach to convey stories of World War II rumor-mongering and the cultural conflict faced by a young Navajo boy.

‘Mr. Blabbermouth!’, Basil Wrangell (1942, 35mm, black-and-white, 19 min.) Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
‘Navajo’, Norman Foster (1952, 35mm, black-and-white, 70 min.) Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature; Black-and-White Cinematography

Saturday, September 29 — Linwood Dunn Theater, 7:30 p.m.

‘Spider Baby’ (1968, 35mm, black-and-white, 81 min.): World premiere of the Academy Film Archive’s new restoration from the original negative, with special guest writer-director Jack Hill.

Filmed in 1964 but not released theatrically until 1968, this cult classic marked the solo directorial debut of Hill. The eerie story follows three siblings suffering from a rare genetic disorder that causes them to regress to a primal state of being and act out with savage, incestuous and animalistic behavior.

Saturday, September 29 — Linwood Dunn Theater, 9:30 p.m.

‘Carnival of Souls’ (1962, 35mm, black-and-white, 78 min.): World premiere of the Academy Film Archive’s new restoration from the original negative.

Director Herk Harvey’s only feature film was made on a tiny budget with a crew largely composed of industrial filmmakers from Lawrence, Kansas. Filled with evocative images, the film tells the story of a young woman who seemingly survives a car crash but is haunted by a ghostly figure that is somehow connected to an abandoned carnival pavilion.

Tickets for each screening in the “Film-to-Film” Festival are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, or by mail. Each time slot listed indicates a separate ticketed program. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Doors open an hour before each program. Ticketed seating is unreserved. For more information, visit www.oscars.org.

Image Courtesy of   ChinellatoPhoto / Shutterstock.com

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the 1959 animated classic ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as the second film in its series “The Last 70mm Film Festival” on Monday, July 16 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The film will be introduced by animator Andreas Deja (‘Winnie the Pooh’, ‘The Princess and the Frog’) and character designer Mike Giaimo (‘FernGully: The Last Rainforest’, ‘Pocahontas’).

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ earned an Academy Award nomination for Music – Scoring of a Musical Picture (George Bruns). It is the last fairy tale produced by Walt Disney (after his death, the studio did not return to the genre for feature-length films until 1989’s ‘The Little Mermaid’). It is also the first animated film in the Technirama widescreen process.

The 70mm short ‘Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot’ (1957) will be screened before the feature at 7 p.m.. It has the distinction of being the longest-running motion picture in American film history, still running daily in VistaVision at the twin Patriot Theatres in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

“The Last 70mm Film Festival,” a six-film series, will run Mondays through August 13, showcasing 70mm classics from different genres as well as rarely screened 70mm short subjects. The remaining screenings in the series are:

• July 23: ‘Grand Prix’ (1966)
• July 30: ‘The Sound of Music’ (1965)
• August 06: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968)
• August 13: ‘Spartacus’ (1960)

Series passes and tickets for “The Last 70mm Film Festival” are now sold out. A standby line will form on the day of the event, and standby numbers will be assigned starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. Any available tickets will be distributed shortly before the program begins. Ticketholders should plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to ensure a seat in the theater. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

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Beverly Hills, U.S.A. — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the 1963 ensemble comedy ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ as the inaugural film in its series “The Last 70mm Film Festival” on Monday, July 9, at 7 PM at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Directed by nine-time Oscar nominee Stanley Kramer, ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ earned six Academy Award nominations, including Cinematography (Ernest Laszlo), Film Editing (Frederic Knudtson, Robert C. Jones, Gene Fowler, Jr.), Music – Music Score, substantially original (Ernest Gold), Music – Song (Gold, Mack David), Sound (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director), and took home the Oscar for Sound Effects (Walter G. Elliott).

Prior to the screening, there will be a panel discussion with actors Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Stan Freberg and Barrie Chase, as well as script supervisor Marshall Schlom, casting director Lynn Stalmaster, and Stanley Kramer’s widow, Karen Kramer.

The 70mm short ‘The Miracle of Todd-AO’ (1954) will be screened before the film.  This live action short highlights the innovation of the Todd-AO wide-angle lens with an optical journey from the Grand Teton National Park to the streets of San Francisco.

The Last 70mm Film Festival, a six-film series, will run Mondays through August 13, showcasing 70mm classics from different genres as well as rarely screened 70mm short subjects.

The remaining screenings in the series are ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959) on July 16, ‘Grand Prix’ (1966) on July 23, ‘The Sound of Music’ (1965) on July 30, ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) on August 6, and ‘Spartacus’ (1960) on August 13.

Series passes for The Last 70mm Film Festival are on sale now. Passes are $20 for the general public and $15 for Academy members and students with valid ID. Tickets to individual evenings, if still available, will go on sale Friday, June 29. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with valid ID. Passes and tickets may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 PM.

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Thirty-five students from 20 U.S. colleges and universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 39th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. Academy members will view the finalists’ films at special screenings and vote to select the winners.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards, along with accompanying cash grants of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively, may be presented in each of four categories: Alternative, Animation, Documentary and Narrative.

Winners will be brought to Los Angeles, along with the international student winners in the Foreign Student Film category, for a week of industry activities and social events that will culminate in the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 9, at 6 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The finalists are (listed alphabetically by film title):

Alternative
“Falconer,” Micah Robert Barber, University of Texas at Austin
“In Between Shadows,” Tianran Duan, University of Southern California
“Last Remarks,” Umar Riaz, New York University
“Peace at Home,” Avital Epstein, Florida State University
“The Reality Clock,” Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California
“SiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSi,” Juan Camilo González, University of Southern California
“Terra Cotta Warrior,” Bin Li, Rochester Institute of Technology
“Us,” Alex Lora, City College of New York

Animation
“Chocolate Milk,” Eliza Kinkz, University of California, Los Angeles
“Cowboy, Clone, Dust,” Matthew Christensen, New York University
“Eyrie,” David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts
“The Jockstrap Raiders,” Mark Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles
“La Lune et le Coq,” Raymond McCarthy Bergeron, Rochester Institute of Technology
“Lizard and the Ladder,” Aaron Bristow, Utah Valley University*
“My Little Friend,” Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design
“Reviving Redwood,” Matt Sullivan, Ringling College of Art and Design
“Shinobi Blues,” Yue Liu, School of Visual Arts

Documentary
“Dignity Harbor: A Home Away from Homeless,” Michael Gualdoni, Lindenwood University*
“Dying Green,” Ellen Tripler, American University
“Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment,” Keiko Wright, New York University
“Lost Country,” Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville*
“Love Hacking,” Jenni Nelson, Stanford University
“Pot Country,” Mario Furloni, University of California, Berkeley
“Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and the Holocaust,” Emily Harrold, New York University
“Smoke Songs,” Briar March, Stanford University
“Why Am I Still Alive,” Hanzhang Shen, School of Visual Arts

Narrative
“Benny,” Huay-Bing Law, University of Texas at Austin
“Contra el Mar,” Richard Parkin, University of California, Los Angeles
“Hatch,” Christoph Kuschnig, Columbia University
“Mr. Bellpond,” A. Todd Smith, Brigham Young University
“Nani,” Justin Tipping, American Film Institute
“Narcocorrido,” Ryan Prows, American Film Institute
“The Recorder Exam,” Bora Kim, Columbia University
“Requited,” Madeline Puzzo, Point Park University*
“Under,” Mark Raso, Columbia University

*Indicates first-time finalist entry for the school/university

To reach this stage, U.S. students competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region is permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalists in each of the four categories. Academy members have selected students from Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom as finalists in the Foreign Film category.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. At the 84th Academy Awards earlier this year, 2011 Student Academy Award winners Hallvar Witzø and Max Zähle were nominated in the Live

Action Short Film category for “Tuba Atlantic” and “Raju,” respectively. James Spione, a Student Academy Award winner in 1987, earned a nomination in the Documentary Short Subject category for “Incident in New Baghdad.”

Image Courtesy of    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences/ The Oscars

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