Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
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AFI Catalog <strong>of</strong> Feature <strong>Film</strong>s,<br />
1941-1950<br />
Publications / Publicaciones<br />
Ken Wlaschin<br />
The AFI Catalog <strong>of</strong> Feature <strong>Film</strong>s, 1941-1950, the latest volume in the<br />
American <strong>Film</strong> Institute’s series <strong>of</strong> definitive reference books that<br />
document the history <strong>of</strong> American motion pictures, will be published in<br />
April 1999.<br />
The 1940s volume includes entries for 4,316 films documented in two<br />
large volumes <strong>of</strong> text and one large index volume. It is the largest ever<br />
written by the AFI and has been researched for many years. The threevolume<br />
set will published by the University <strong>of</strong> California Press.<br />
Principal research began in 1993 though a core title database had been<br />
compiled in 1991. The Catalog, a division <strong>of</strong> AFI’s National Center for<br />
<strong>Film</strong> and Video <strong>Preservation</strong> in Los Angeles, has a staff <strong>of</strong> eleven persons<br />
under the direction <strong>of</strong> Executive Editor Patricia King Hanson.<br />
Assignments are divided by studio to enable staff members to become<br />
familiar with the production and personnel <strong>of</strong> each company.<br />
Independent films are divided chronologically.<br />
The primary source <strong>of</strong> filmographic documentation was the film itself<br />
and more than 93% <strong>of</strong> the films were viewed. Credits and plot<br />
information for the other 7% were derived from cutting continuity or<br />
studio records, copyright records, censorship records, reviews and news<br />
items. Contemporary and modern sources were studied to obtain the<br />
best possible credits and information.<br />
There are many sources <strong>of</strong> filmographic information available in book<br />
and electronic form but the AFI Catalog is the only project to<br />
systematically document the entire output <strong>of</strong> American film production.<br />
This systematic approach not only enables historians and scholars to<br />
have a document <strong>of</strong> record for American films, but is a benchmark for<br />
American film preservation. AFI’s film catalogs are used by archives all<br />
over the world to identify films without titles from all periods and have<br />
become a major preservation tool.<br />
The project, which began in the late 1960s, has previously published<br />
volumes documenting the first era <strong>of</strong> film production, <strong>Film</strong> Beginnings,<br />
1893-1910, plus feature film volumes covering the decades <strong>of</strong> the 1910s,<br />
1920s, 1930s and 1960s; Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature<br />
<strong>Film</strong>s, 1911-1960, which covered 2,464 films dealing with the ethnic-<br />
American experience, was published in 1997.<br />
The AFI staff is now working on the next AFI Catalog covering featurefilm<br />
production from 1951-1960.<br />
The project has received primary funding through grants from the<br />
National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding was<br />
106 <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Film</strong> <strong>Preservation</strong> / 58/59 / 1999