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July 22, 2008

Digitization of films in library collection

Still image from Riso amaro (Bitter Rice). Photo from MoMA web site.

In December 2007 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City presented a survey of films honoring film director Giuseppe De Santis. De Santis (1917-1997) is best known for his 1949 film, Riso amaro (Bitter Rice), and is widely considered one of the most important figures in the development of Italian Neorealism. The MoMA exhibition featured six newly restored and rarely screened 35mm prints from the vaults of Cinecittà Holding in Italy. Many of the films, including his first, Caccia tragica (A Tragic Hunt, 1946), are not available anywhere else.

De Santis was a guest of the Middlebury Language Schools in 1993. At the end of the session, he donated seven of his films on video, including Caccia tragica and Videofilme, that summer's collaboration with the Italian School students. This summer, an intern in the Wilson Media Lab at the Main Library preserved these films on DVD. Although the projection quality is only fair, the content should be useful and interesting to film scholars. Check for these DVDs MIDCAT in the coming weeks.

Photo from MoMA web site.