Mumbai: Museum of the Moving Image director Rochelle Slovin announced the launch of a major new website devoted to the history of film, television, and digital media: Moving Image Source.
Made possible with support from the Hazen Polsky Foundation, movingimagesource.us features original articles by leading critics, authors, and scholars; a calendar that highlights major retrospectives, festivals, and gallery exhibitions at venues around the world; and a regularly updated guide to online research resources.
"Moving Image Source will quickly become a destination website for anyone interested in the appreciation and study of film and media," said Slovin. "In addition to excellent new critical and historical articles updated weekly, the website’s Research Guide will be an invaluable resource for all those engaged in creating, consuming, and writing about moving images."
The site will be updated every Thursday with additions to the Articles and Calendar sections. The articles relate to recent and ongoing retrospectives and gallery exhibitions as well as to significant new DVDs and books on film, media, and moving-image culture. Pieces will be accompanied by photographs, video clips, and sidebars offering suggestions for further viewing, reading, or listening.
The Moving Image Source Calendar is a selective guide to major screenings, series, festivals, and gallery exhibitions. Calendar entries include program summaries, exhibition descriptions, titles of films or featured works of media art, and links to presenting venues.
The Calendar draws on the programming of more than 100 museums, media arts centers, cinematheques, and other venues around the world that regularly present film and media programs. An international Venue List can be found in the Calendar section: Venues on the list emphasize original programming and the presentation of work in its original format, and/or large-scale gallery exhibitions.
The site’s Research Guide is an annotated and regularly maintained database of more than 400 of the best moving-image related resources on the web, ranging from scholarly and popular journals to film-related libraries and archives. They have been organized into a detailed, easy-to-navigate taxonomy with five primary categories: People, History and Styles, Industry, Technology and Craft, and Criticism and Ideas. The Research Guide may also be browsed by resource type, and advanced search and filtering options are available.
"Moving Image Source grows out of a belief that the health of screen culture depends on a serious engagement with history," said the site’s editor-in-chief Dennis Lim.
Moving Image Source was made possible with a gift from the Hazen Polsky Foundation in memory of Joseph H. Hazen. One of Hollywood’s unsung executives, Hazen worked closely with Hal Wallis at Warner Bros. in the 1930s. Their independent company Wallis-Hazen Productions made 64 movies in just 26 years and nurtured the careers of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Burt Lancaster, and Barbara Stanwyck, among others.
"We are grateful for the generous and visionary support of the Hazen Polsky Foundation," said Slovin. "The Foundation has long understood the importance of film and media history on culture and society and the role of the Internet as a forum for discussion and research."
Additional support for Moving Image Source has been provided through the National Endowment for the Arts.
Museum of the Moving Image advances the public understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving, and providing access to moving-image related artifacts; screening significant films and other moving-image works; presenting exhibitions of artifacts, artworks, and interactive experiences; and offering educational and interpretive programs to students, teachers, and the general public.
Construction is currently underway on a major expansion of the Museum, designed by architect Thomas Leeser. The project entails a complete renovation of the existing first floor and construction of a three-story addition housing a new theater, screening room, galleries, and a new education center. The Grand Opening is scheduled for winter 2009-10.
