Second Annual Festival of Film Preservation

After the success of the East End’s first annual film event entirely devoted to the preservation of film and its culture, Sag Harbor Cinema will host a second edition of the festival from November 18 to 21, titled “Martin Scorsese Presents the Sag Harbor Cinema Festival of Preservation.”

“I am thrilled that the preservation long weekend is back and that it has become an annual tradition,” said the cinema’s founding artistic director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan. “This special program speaks to the heart of the Sag Harbor Cinema’s mission to engage our audience with the past, the present and the future of film; to connect it to different strands of cinema and to celebrate the legacy and the power of the art form.”

This year, the festival will welcome back familiar faces in addition to bringing new experiences and filmmakers to the East End. Among the highlights will be the brand new restoration of “The Runner,” Amir Naderi’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece, which was just rereleased by Rialto to enthusiastic reviews. The great master of Iranian cinema, who was the subject of retrospectives at MoMA and Centre Pompidou, will be in Sag Harbor for the screening and Q&A.

Spearheaded by Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation and Warner Bros’ archival team, the 4K restoration of George Stevens’s epic adaptation of Edna Ferber’s novel “Giant,” starring James Dean, will also be screened at the festival. From Universal’s archives, in partnership with The Film Foundation comes another take on the western genre, Jacques Tourneur’s rare “Canyon Passage,” a favorite of Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, also restored in 4K.

Preservation specialists from MoMA will return to SHC with “Rosita,” a costume romance set in a mythical Spain starring silent film star Mary Pickford and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. A title inspired by another Lubitsch film, the comedy “Squirrels to the Nuts” will have a rare screening introduced by the man who saved director Peter Bogdanovich’s cut of the film after discovering its existence on eBay. Following last year’s screening of Emilio Fernandez’s acclaimed “Enamorada,” Sag Harbor Cinema will show two 35mm print screenings of “La Perla/The Pearl.” The legendary collaboration between the Mexican director and John Steinbeck will be presented both in its Spanish and English version, courtesy of Mexico City’s Filmoteca UNAM and the Library of Congress.

Film Forum’s director of repertory programming and founder of Rialto Pictures, Bruce Goldstein, whose “Nicholas Brothers” presentation was a smash hit of last year’s festival, will return with his latest live program, “Vaudeville 101: A Night at the Palace,” which — along with his deep insight on the subject — will feature 35mm screenings of two Vitaphone shorts, “Lambchops” (1929) and “The Beau Brummels” (1928).

Renowned essayist and filmmaker Alexandre Philippe, whose documentary “Lynch/Oz” premiered at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year and will be released in early 2023, will bring his unique critical perspective to the restored “The Wizard of Oz,” highlighting the impact of the MGM’s lysergic classic musical on the work of David Lynch. Lynch’s “Lost Highway” will also screen as part of the festival’s program in its recent 4k restoration by the Criterion Collection. “Lost Highway” was co-written with Barry Gifford, who participated in a virtual Q&A at the cinema earlier this year. “The Wizard of Oz” will also screen as part of the cinema’s Kids’ and Families’ Matinee on Saturday and Sunday morning of the festival.

Previously in attendance at SHC with “Dawson City: Frozen Time,” “The Village Detective: A Song Cycle” and the short “Her Violet Kiss,” filmmaker Bill Morrison will return with “The Great Flood,” his mesmerizing exploration of one of the worst natural disasters in American history, the 1927 Mississippi River flood. Composer, guitarist Bill Frisell — a frequent collaborator of Morrison — wrote and performed the score for the film.

Also returning will be the annual Sag Harbor Cinema Preservation Panel followed by a brunch open to all attendees. Further guests and events will be announced at a later date. For the full schedule, tickets and passes, visit sagharborcinema.org. Sag Harbor Cinema is at 90 Main Street in Sag Harbor.