BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Archivists, scholars , filmmakers and historians from across the globe will convene on the Indiana University Bloomington campus Sept. 13 to 16 for a conference promoting new scholarship on the topic of 16mm film. A short film shot on 16mm by Oscar-nominated actor, writer and filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg and never-before-seen 16mm films by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol will premiere at the conference.
The “A Century of 16mm” conference, hosted by the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive in partnership with The Media School, serves as the culmination of a yearlong celebration of the first affordable, accessible film format launched by Eastman Kodak in 1923.
“Sixteen-millimeter film changed everything,” said Rachael Stoeltje, director of the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive and president of the international Association of Moving Image Archivists. “It was the first time that history was being recorded by average people not affiliated with a production studio, which I think we all take for granted now.”
Stoeltje and fellow IU Libraries archivist Carmel Curtis commissioned 17 new films shot by an international group of filmmakers as part of “A New Century,” a series of screenings at the conference that will honor the ongoing significance of 16mm film. Filmmakers from around the world were given 16mm film stock and invited to create three-minute original films with only one rule: “Make what you want.”
Eisenberg’s film “In the Morning Kitchen” premieres Sept. 15.
“We are so fortunate to have Jesse Eisenberg participate in the ‘A New Century’ filmmaking series,” Stoeltje said. “When we began reaching out to filmmakers in early 2022, Mr. Eisenberg had recently completed shooting his own film, ‘When You Finish Saving the World,’ on 16mm.
“‘In the Morning Kitchen’ is a unique work that incorporates his family. It is a lovely gem, and we are delighted to premiere it at the conference.”
Each original film will premiere with screenings scheduled at the Moving Image Archive Screening Room and Indiana University Cinema, a state-of-the-art theater on campus dedicated to the scholarly study and exhibition of film.
Also premiering at the conference on Sept. 14 is “Unseen Andy Warhol,” a series of unseen films shot on a 16mm Bolex camera between 1963 and 1965 by Warhol. The series is composed of 13 100-foot rolls of film restored by Katie Trainor, film archivist at the Museum of Modern Art, and Greg Pierce, director of film and video at the Andy Warhol Museum.
One of the Warhol films at the premiere will be shown using a Kodak Pageant projector located in the theater space. The audience will be able to see and hear the projector running, creating a unique ambiance for viewers.
According to Trainor and Pierce, the films in “Unseen Andy Warhol” illuminate Warhol’s swift evolution into one of the most important 16mm filmmakers of the 20th century. The films include home movies shot by Warhol in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Unseen film rolls from “Batman Dracula” and “Couch,” along with rushes and on-set documentation from “More Milk Yvette” and “Lupe,” will be featured.
The schedule of conference events includes tours of the temperature-controlled IU Ruth Lilly Auxiliary Library Facility, where the Moving Image Archive’s collection of more than 130,000 items is stored. Additional tours will be offered at notable locations where collections are housed on campus, including the Black Film Center & Archive, the Kinsey Institute and a pop-up exhibition at the Lilly Library with items from the filmmaker collections of auteurs like Peter Bogdanovich, Orson Welles and John Ford.
“Film scholars from a host of different nations will present new research on the history of 16mm, a format which greatly expanded the uses and the users of film, particularly after World War II,” said Gregory Waller, provost professor of cinema and media studies in The Media School and co-director of the conference. “IU played a major role in this history and now has world-class resources for studying 16mm films.”
The “A Century of 16mm” conference is supported by the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, the Indiana University Arts & Humanities Council, the IU Presidential Arts & Humanities Program, the Office of the Provost, IU Research, the IU Libraries, The Media School, and the College Arts and Humanities Institute.
