SF Cinematheque Presents: Avante-Garde Masters Grants

Playing as a part of Scorsese: More Than a Gangster

The Film Foundation: 20 Years of Preserving the Avant-Garde

Movies touch our hearts, awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places. They open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our lifetime. We need to keep them alive. — Martin Scorsese

Founded in 1990 by Martin Scorsese, The Film Foundation is dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history by supporting the preservation work of film archives. As such, it has served as a vital force in the guardianship and conservation of international film culture—-in its thirty-three years of existence, the Film Foundation has contributed to the preservation of nearly 1,000 works of world cinema. In 2003, the Foundation partnered with the San Francisco-based National Film Preservation Foundation to create the Avant Garde Masters grant program, which has preserved 214 works of avant-garde cinema by 83 artists, from canonized classics to obscurities and rediscoveries. In partnership with the 4 Star Theater’s series Martin Scorsese: More than a Gangster (and on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Avant Garde Masters program) San Francisco Cinematheque celebrates this legacy with an eclectic mix of works preserved under this program. Screening will be introduced by Jeff Lambert, Executive Director of the National Film Preservation Foundation. Works to screen* include: 

Ophelia/The Cat Lady (1969) by Tom Chomont

Prefaces (1981) by Abigail Child

Orange (1970) by Karen Johnson

Psychosynthesis (1975) by Barbara Hammer

Remembrance: A Portrait Study (1967) by Edward Owens

Nocturne (1998) by Peggy Ahwesh

…and more. All works to screen as digital video. Complete program information here. 

*All films in this program were preserved through the National Film Preservation Foundation’s Avant-Garde Masters Grant program and The Film Foundation. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.