Photo of Columbus-based woodworker Elijah Pierce, preserved and digitized from a film strip. Courtesy of The Ohio State University Archives.
There are tens of thousands of audiovisual works tucked away in the Ohio State University Libraries’ Special Collections vault, encompassing decades of unseen history.
Behind the scenes, Ohio State’s audiovisual preservation and digitization lab works with the university libraries’ special collections team to preserve these archival pieces for future generations. As part of the 11th annual Cinema Revival series, the Wexner Center for the Arts will screen a selection of historical short films starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the center’s website.
The event — which will feature short films dating back to the 1930s — was organized by David Filipi, head of film and video at the Wexner Center, Tim Lanza, audiovisual preservation and digitization lead at Ohio State’s libraries and Sarah Hartzell, audiovisual preservation and digitization specialist for the university’s libraries.
The short films are curated from special collections within the libraries, such as the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Lanza said.
According to the center’s website, the chosen films represent five out of eight special collections at Ohio State, with the other three being the University Archives, Public Policy Archives and Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute.
Since opening in March 2023, the lab has been restoring historical audiovisual works that are at risk of being damaged or inaccessible — whether from a lack of required playback equipment or physical deterioration — and making them available to the Ohio State community and general public, Hartzell said.
“For our program specifically, I would assume a lot of students don’t even know that this stuff is in their library and that they have access to it if they want it,” Hartzell said. “It’s a really great display of just a slice of what’s out there. There’s so much more out there than even we know, and we’re the ones working on it.”
According to a paper handout provided by the lab, the facility can currently digitize eight out of the 10 most common formats for audiovisual content, which include CDs, compact cassettes, one-quarter inch open reel audio, VHS, U-matic, Betacam, DVDs and DVs. It’s estimated there are more than 50,000 items in the special collections vault, excluding works that are currently inaccessible, the event handout states.
Decomposing film that depicts penguins in Antarctica. Courtesy of Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Admiral Richard E. Byrd Papers.
It’s often difficult to determine what these works actually contain at first glance, Hartzell said.
“A lot of stuff we look at, nobody really knows what it is until we look at it, or it’s mislabeled,” Hartzell said. “So, you look at it, the title says, ‘Bats,’ and you know you’re in 1962, but then you watch it, and there’s so much more to it than just bats.”
“Bats,” a short film about baseball by Ohio-born cartoonist Milton Caniff, was one of the pieces selected for Thursday’s screening by the lab and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the center’s website states.
Notably, Hartzell said the lab oversees a large spectrum of works, from commercials to full-length films. She said the short films handpicked for the Cinema Revival series are mostly actualities — a film genre that portrays raw footage of real-life events without following a narrative.
Attendees can also expect to see footage of Columbus woodcarver Elijah Pierce, early computer animator Charles Csuri, an Antarctic expedition to the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, American astronaut Alan Shepard’s historical flight and more, according to the center’s website.
The Wexner Center’s Cinema Revival series began 11 years ago and continues to grow, Lanza said. Having been involved since the beginning, he said the series’ programs provide meaningful opportunities to learn about history through film.
“Part of the appeal is the story, not only just what we’re going to be presenting; all of them are a story of preserving, restoring and presenting film I’ve always thought of as our shared, cultural memory,” Lanza said. “Having the opportunity to see the byproduct but also hear about that process is really valuable.”
Filipi said the Cinema Revival series also highlights lesser-known film professionals. Exposing students to different fields and occupations helps them explore opportunities they may not have known about otherwise, he said.
“It’s not just, ‘I want to be a filmmaker.’ There are all these other positions,” Filipi said. “We have archivists that come in, distributors, people who do film restoration, sound people, it goes on and on and on. They can hear from the people that have those types of jobs out in the world, and maybe it changes their thinking while they’re a student.”
Filipi said reintroducing older films to a younger, more modern audience helps connect historical events with present-day situations.
“I think it’s amazing when you bring a film that’s 20, 30, 50, 70 years old, and it really hasn’t been in circulation or available for whatever reason, and you bring it back,” Filipi said. “Then, you situate it in today’s context, with our eyes today.”
Lanza said the event could not have been made possible without the acceptance and help of the Ohio State University Libraries’ Special Collections.
“We’re really fortunate to be able to work not only within our unit, but with the people we are working with in special collections, who have been very supportive,” Lanza said. “This is only a 2-year-old activity for the libraries. It’s still fairly new, and luckily, people are appreciative of what we are trying to do.”
Thursday’s screenings are free to attend and open to anyone. For more information on the event, program lineup or how to reserve tickets, visit the center’s website.
