MOSTLY LOST: Last week to register!

[Rob Stone]

Registration for Mostly Lost II closes a week from today on Friday May 24th.

Come to the Library of Congress to see unidentified films that will range from Tom Mix westerns, a Bobby Ray comedy, and an Andy Gump animation to actuality footage of a chess match outside of a cathedral and footage of animals as dinosaurs. Films from all genres will be shown to attendees, who are encouraged to talk during the screenings, calling out names of actors, locations, car models, production companies or anything else they recognize about the film.

Live musical accompaniment during the workshop and evening screenings will be provided by Ben Model, Andrew Simpson, and Philip Carli. The free event will be held at the Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper, VA, Thursday, June 6 through Saturday, June 8.

A basic outline of the event is as follows:

Thursday June 6th:
9am-12pm: Tour of the Library of Congress Packard Campus

3pm: Film ID 101 class taught by George Willeman, Anthony L'Abbate, and Steve Massa

7:30pm: Accidentally and Intentionally Preserved: A showcase of newly preserved silent shorts from archives around the world as well as otherwise rare movies that exist as a result of collectors' passions for films. The evening will include several obscure shorts including one starring Mistinguett, famous from the Moulin Rouge and from being at one time the best paid female entertainer in the world.

Friday June 7th:
9am-5pm: Screening unidentified films from archives from around the world.

Following the lunch break: A short talk by Ben Model titled "UNDERCRANKING: THE MAGIC BEHIND THE SLAPSTICK"

7:30pm: "The Family Secret" (1924) staring Baby Peggy. This is a work-in-progress preservation project between the Library of Congress, UCLA, David Stenn, and the Milan archive.

Saturday June 8th:
9am-5pm: Screening unidentified films from archives from around the world.

Following the lunch break: A short talk by Ron Magliozzi of MoMA on Bert Williams' unfinished film "Picnic."

7:30pm: Buster Keaton's "Sherlock Jr." at the newly restored State Theater in downtown Culpeper. Attendees get free admission to this otherwise paid event.

After the screening of "Sherlock Jr." there will be a closing night reception at the State Theatre for Mostly Lost attendees.

We would love to have you join us for this great event. The official announcement is posted below.


Registration for this year's "MOSTLY LOST: Silent Film Archaeology II: A Film Identification Workshop" is now open. The workshop takes place June 6-8 at the Library of Congress Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia. The goal of the workshop is to utilize the accumulated knowledge of the attendees to identify as much information as possible about the unknown, under-identified or misidentified films that will be screened. The workshop is open to all silent film lovers, be they fan or scholar.

Ninety-five reels were screened at the first workshop and 38 of those—40 percent—were identified during the event. Through further research conducted after the workshop, attendees were able to identify eight additional titles, bringing the success rate up to 48 percent. The efforts by the AMIA Nitrate Committee Flickr website (www.flickr.com/photos/nfig/) increased the percentage of identified titles to 55 percent with an additional six confirmed. A complete list of the identified titles will be posted in the near future.

Early film experts and archivists are encouraged to attend, but the workshop is also open to those who are interested in actively participating in researching the films showcased at the workshop.

In addition to films from the Library of Congress’ collections, “Mostly Lost” will again feature material from other film archives around the world. Live musical accompaniment during the workshop and evening presentations of newly preserved silent films will also be featured.

There are no registration fees for the workshop, but you must register in order to attend. If you are interested then please write to us at rapa@loc.gov (cc: to rsto@loc.gov) and we will provide the registration information. Please be sure to include "MOSTLY LOST" in the subject line of your email.