Jane Fonda calls for Hollywood to ‘invest as much in saving films as making them’
ACTRESS and activist Jane Fonda urged the Hollywood community to “invest as much in saving (films) as making them”, emphasising that the resources available to preserve Hollywood's film history are "woefully inadequate".
Fonda's call to action was made at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Film Restoration Summit, which the HFPA presented Saturday in partnership with The Film Foundation and Institut Lumière at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Fonda noted that this isn't just about preserving Hollywood classics, but also newsreels and documentary material. "Films were made because filmmakers wanted to make sure what happened would never be forgotten," the actress said. "If we allow documents of our past to disappear we end up (without the whole picture). We can't know where we are going if we don't know where we have been.
"I'm overwhelmed by the amount of material that needs to be restored and preserved and the lack of funding," Fonda continued. "Most studios are cutting back on archiving . ... The challenge of indie filmmakers is far greater."
Moderator Sandra Schulberg, president of film preservation organisation IndieCollect, called it "a crisis that is engulfing us". Speaker Jan-Christopher Horak, director of UCLA Film & Television Archive, confirmed that at UCLA, "every penny of programs like preservation needs to be funded through third-party sources."
Filmmaker and Film Foundation board member Alexander Payne was also on hand to urge funding efforts. “Ifeveryone here gives US$50, we'll get somewhere,” hesaid.