Film Restoration for 'The Ax Fight'

The Second Restoration Grant Awarded to DER

Documentary Educational Resources www.der.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PHOTOS AVAILABLE
Contact: Cynthia Close
617-926-0491
cclose@der.org

Watertown, MA (April 4, 2001)-THE AX FIGHT, a stylistically ground breaking 16mm film shot in 1968 in a remote Yanomami village in the rainforest of Venezuela will be one of the films preserved by a federally funded grant awarded to Documentary Educational Resources (DER) from the nonprofit National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF). These cash awards to 23 film archives across the country help to save American "orphan" films, those films not preserved by commercial interests.

This is the second award received by DER from the NFPF. John Marshall's first ethnographic film classic, THE HUNTERS, shot in the Kalahari Desert in the 1950's when he was a young man, is currently being restored with funds awarded to DER from the previous NFPF grant cycle.

Other cultural and historically significant films slated for preservation include D.W. Griffith's FIGHTING BLOOD, and avant-garde works by Jordan Belson, Jules Engel, David Lamelas, and Harry Smith.

"America's filmmaking heritage is as diverse as America itself" said grant panelist Margaret Bodde, Director, The Film Foundation, "These federal grants are making it possible to save an important part of our history before it disappears."

This is the fourth year that the NFPF has distributed preservation grants. The federal cash awards enable archives to make preservation and public viewing copies of films that would not survive without public support. Since 1997, the NFPF has supported preservation projects in 25 states and the District of Columbia and helped preserve 350 films and collections.

Documentary Educational Resources has been producing and distributing ethnographic and documentary films since 1968. It also maintains a large archive of historically significant 16mm films which document indigenous cultures in exotic worlds which now no longer exist. Grants to preserve DER's archive also serve to preserve the most authentic remnants of humanity's roots captured on film.

A nonprofit organization, Documentary Educational Resources has also been active in assisting young filmmakers by offering fiscal sponsorships, internships, editing workshops, distribution and marketing opportunities. For more information on DER, please visit the DER web site: www.der.org

For a complete list of the awards, visit the NFPF site: www.film preservation.org

For further comments, questions contact:
Cynthia Close
Executive Director, Documentary Educational Resources
101 Morse Street, Watertown, MA 02472-2554