Yale University Library News

Preserving Films in the Benny Goodman Archive

April 30, 2015

Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, Tuesday May 5, 1:00 pm

Remi Castonguay and Suzanne Lovejoy from the Gilmore Music Library, and Brian Meacham, Archive and Special Collections Manager at the Yale Film Study Center, will present on an Arcadia-funded project entitled: Preserving Films in the Benny Goodman Archive. The Benny Goodman Archive is an amazing special collection in the Gilmore Music Library and part of it is composed of 16 and 35 mm films that were in serious need of preservation treatment. The films mostly date from the 1950s with contents ranging from home movies, to Hollywood feature excerpts, television broadcasts, and documentary footage. This presentation will provide an historical overview of the Goodman Archive to put the films into a larger context. Then, we will discuss some basic aspects of film preservation and the challenges this collection presented. Most importantly, we will provide an overview of the film collection’s contents through the projection of numerous excerpts. Join us for this exciting opportunity to watch some rarely seen footage. BYO Popcorn! All welcome!

This talk is sponsored by SCOPA.