Passes for the seventh Festival of Film Conservation currently on sale
Rochester, N.Y., February 16, 2023—The George Eastman Museum will present the seventh edition of the Nitrate Picture Show in late spring. The world’s only festival entirely dedicated to nitrate film will be held June 1-4, 2023 at the Dryden Theatre, the George Eastman Museum’s historic venue for film exhibition in Rochester, N.Y. Festival passes are currently available for purchase through the museum’s website at eastman.org/nitrate-picture-show.
The 7th Nitrate Picture Show will continue in the tradition of exhibiting original archival films on flammable stock from archives and museums in the United States and around the world, including prints from the Eastman Museum collection. Thousands of people from more than 25 different countries have made the trip to Rochester to indulge in the nitrate experience at the George Eastman Museum since its inaugural opening in 2014.
Following the tradition of opening the show with a festival favorite, the Museum will screen an original 1947 IB Technicolor print of Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger's masterpiece Black Narcissus starring Deborah Kerr, Kathlyn Byron and Flora Robson. The full program, which is kept secret until the first day of the festival, will be announced at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 1.
“Some of the prints show signs of wear and tear, but the authentic photographic quality, the colors, the shades of grey, the deep blacks and luminous whites provide a unique experience,” said Peter Bagrov, Senior Curator, Moving Image Department, George Eastman Museum. “Watching such a print may be compared to a performance of Bach or Shakespeare by a great musician or actor in the twilight of their career: the technique might not be as sharp anymore, but nothing could take away the artistic individuality.”
“We have learned that there are plenty of projectable nitrate prints out there in the world, and we can afford to be selective,” Bagrov added. “Not that we should limit ourselves to masterpieces: we try to represent as many genres, formats, and countries as possible. But watching an excellent film in an original nitrate print is a special treat.”
Festival passes for the Nitrate Picture Show range in price from $150 to $275, and include admission to the festival’s entire film program, including twelve nitrate screenings. The festival will also feature lectures and introductions by prominent archivists, restorers and historians, as well as The Nitrate Touch – a unique opportunity to examine nitrate prints in person on a rewind bench, supervised by the museum staff.
Festival Passes: June 1-4, 2023
Passes include admission to all screenings and lectures, plus complimentary entrance to the George Eastman Museum June 1-4, 2023. Patrons receive a special gift and recognition onsite and in print.
- Patron Pass: $275
- Festival Pass: $200
- Student/Eastman Museum Member: $150
Tickets for individual screenings, if available, may be purchased at the Dryden Theatre box office during the festival. All Dryden Theatre seating is general admission.
About the George Eastman Museum Nitrate Collection
The museum holds one of the country’s largest collections of nitrate prints and negatives, preserved at the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center, a state-of-the-art facility located 12 miles southwest of Rochester. The George Eastman Museum is also a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the world’s leading group in the field of film conservation and preservation, and the museum’s collection of over 28,000 titles covers the entire history of cinema, from Edison and the Lumière brothers to contemporary works by Peter Greenaway and Tacita Dean.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of
entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent
collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active book publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. For more information, visit eastman.org.
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ATTN. Media: High-res images for the Nitrate Picture Show can be downloaded here: https://eastmanmuseum.box.com/v/nitrate-picture-show-2023
Media Contact: Nathaniel Smith
(585) 271-3361 ext. 4813