Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese took time out from post-production duties on his new movie “The Irishman” to help unveil a new program for “The Story of Movies,” a movie educational resource created by The Film Foundation, the non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation that he co-founded in 1990.
The Film Foundation, in partnership with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), unveiled a movie study program created by filmmakers, film scholars and educators called “Portraits of America: Democracy on Film.”
The eight-section curriculum is the latest addition to the group’s ongoing film course “The Story of Movies,” which is a free movie resource for schools and universities. The movies in “Portraits of America: Democracy on Film” range from Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 film “The Immigrant” to Billy Wilder’s 1951 movie “Ace in the Hole” to Scorsese’s own 2004 Howard Hughes biopic “The Aviator.”
“Whether they’re seen in a theater or classroom, on television or a streaming device — whatever,” Scorsese said at a press conference in New York City when he was asked about movies and the context in which they are now seen. “It’s not only the subject matter of the film or why that film was made at that time, but how it was made, why these choices were made,” he said. “You could still study it if it’s taken out of its original context.”
“I learned that from watching the worst prints on black-and-white TV with commercials,” Scorsese added, citing Orson Welles’s 1941 classic “Citizen Kane” as an example. “The first time I saw “Citizen Kane” was on ‘Million Dollar Movie’ [on WOR-TV’s] Channel 9 playing twice a week with the “News on the March” sequence cut out. So when I saw it in the theater, it was even more of a surprise. What I’m saying is that ultimately the language itself still can be communicated.”
Scorsese said he was enthused that a new generation of children will be introduced to classics about American democracy: “When I was growing up, I learned so much about citizenship and American ideals from the movies I saw.”
He cited “John Ford’s extraordinary adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath” [which] taught me about the exploitation of labor in times of national emergency” and Elia Kazan’s “A Face in the Crowd,” “which looks right into the heart of issues that we’re facing right now: the convergence of politics and mass media and the cult of personality.”
Scorsese’s latest movie, “The Irishman,” which reunites him with actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci and is reputedly his most expensive film yet, is being made by Netflix
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.@AFSCME President Lee Saunders announces partnership project ‘Portraits of America: Democracy on Film’ with Martin Scorsese & The Film Foundation and the Library of Congress. pic.twitter.com/wUh9uFw7NK
— DC37, AFSCME (@DistCouncil37) March 27, 2018
Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden said her government organization is trying to raise awareness among children by hosting free movie screenings. “Free popcorn works,” she said. “The Library has a wonderful theater in Culpeper [the Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper, Virginia] but people weren’t able to always be there.”
“So this past summer we had free film showings, free popcorn, everything right outside on the lawn overlooking the capital and films from the Film Registry….we’re trying to do more having it for free and not having to go to a paid theater,” Dr. Hayden said.
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