In 1920 the painter and photographer Charles Sheeler invited his friend, Paul Strand, a photographer, to collaborate on a film to portray the life of and in New York City. The 10-minute menage of Manhattan scenes became known as Manhatta. Jan-Christopher Horak, a film historian, considers it “the first avant-garde film produced in the United States.”
And until recently, it was only available for viewing in very poor condition.
In 2006 MoMA joined a consortium of film archives to sponsor a digital restoration of Manhatta, supervised by the independent curator Bruce Posner. The results will be shown today at 6:15 p.m. and next Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of the MOMA's sixth annual festival of preserved and restored films from archives around the world, To Save and Project.
[ viaDave Kehr, New York Times ]
