‘Origins of Cinema & Preserving Film Heritage’ Seminar Co-presented by HKU Common Core Office

‘Origins of Cinema & Preserving Film Heritage’ Co-presented by HKU Common Core Office
Seminar and a 16mm film screening of The Rink (1916) with live music

Date: 10 January 2022 *Postponed*
Time: 17:30 – 19:30
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU

Motion pictures was invented in 1895. Yet earliest attempts to collect and preserve film only began in the 1930s in Europe and the United States of America. Due to neglect, natural disasters, wars & other socio-economic reasons, the survival rate of early films is extremely low. Archival institutions around the world believe that only half of the films made before the 1950s survive.

In this seminar, Gladys Lau and Aki Kung from RTRI will introduce the history and technological development of cinema: from black and white to colour; from silent to talkies, and the properties of the most important and fascinating entity-celluloid film, the carrier of moving images. RTRI will also discuss how this delicate medium of art aged and decayed over time, and the physical, photochemical and digital methods practiced by archivists and conservators to restore film heritage for long term preservation and greater public access.

A rare 16mm copy of one of the earliest silent comedies of Charlie Chaplin will also be shown, along with a live music accompaniment by local musician Bunn Lau, to recreate the viewing experience of silent cinema in early days.