Festival passes on sale now
Rochester, N.Y., December 4, 2023—The George Eastman Museum will present the 8th Nitrate Picture Show from May 30 to June 2, 2024 at the Dryden Theatre in Rochester, NY. The Nitrate Picture Show, the world’s festival of film conservation, will celebrate its ninth year with an extended lineup of rare nitrate prints on screen, lectures, tours, and presentations. Tours and presentations will be offered on the festival’s opening day of Thursday, May 30, along with a special screening of a past favorite that evening. Full weekend passes, including tickets for tours, and workshops are on sale now through the museum’s website at eastman.org/nitrate-picture-show.
The 8th Nitrate Picture Show will continue in the tradition of exhibiting pristine archival films on flammable stock from international archives—including the Eastman Museum’s own collection—as well as present lectures and other opportunities to experience the art and science of film preservation, from print conservation to archival projection. Last year’s program featured 12 programs over the course of four days, including nitrate prints of international classics such as The Wizard of Oz, Black Narcissus, Duel in the Sun, Disney shorts, and rarely-before seen screen tests for Gone With The Wind.
Thousands of people from more than 25 different countries have made the pilgrimage to Rochester to indulge in the nitrate experience at the George Eastman Museum since 2015. Festival passes for the Nitrate Picture Show range in price from $150 to $275, and include admission to the festival’s entire film program, including all nitrate screenings. Visit eastman.org/nitrate-picture-show for more information.
TICKET INFORMATION
Festival Passes
Passes include admission to all screenings and lectures, plus complimentary entrance to the George Eastman Museum May 30–June 2. Patrons receive a special gift and recognition on-site and in print.
- Patron Pass: $275
- Festival Pass: $200
- Student/Member Passes: $150
**All tours and workshops are free to festival passholders only. Limited availability; pre-registration required**
Tours & Presentations
“Crashing into the 60s”: A Guided Tour of the Exhibition, Thursday, May 30
Learn how “Crashing into the 60s” was developed from concept to full exhibition from its co-curator, Nancy Kauffman, Archivist for the Stills, Posters and Paper Collection. Ms. Kauffman will provide insight into the selection and acquisition of the film posters, their reflection of changing styles in filmmaking of the period, and the work of particular designers who turned these advertising tools into works of art.
Preservation Presentation in Multipurpose Hall, Thursday, May 30
The Moving Image Department’s Preservation Team - Anthony L’Abbate, Gordon Nelson, Chris Crouse, Graham Brown, and Josh Yocam - will present an overview of their work using both digital and photochemical techniques to preserve and restore films from the museum’s collection. They will highlight some notable restoration projects that utilized all of the digital tools at Film Preservation Services, the museum’s digital laboratory, and provide an overview of the preservation process from selection to the creation of final access prints and DCPs.
Presentation: Projectionists on Projecting, Thursday, May 30
Patrons of the Nitrate Picture Show understand the crucial role that projectionists play in the success of the festival. Without them, this unique cinematic experience would simply not be possible. We’ve learned that many of our audience members are interested in hearing the projectionists discuss their work in organizing and running a nitrate film festival. Unfortunately, during the weekend of the festival, the entire team is immersed in preparations for the screenings. However, we are pleased to offer you this video, which provides insight into their work, personal observations on preparing vintage nitrate prints for projection, and an explanation of why it takes a team of three to project one of the screening programs. The video includes interviews with the Projection Team, a filmed tour of the Dryden Theatre projection booth, and additional footage of the film inspection and repair process, as well as the nitrate vaults at the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center.
About the George Eastman Museum Nitrate Collection
The museum holds one of the country’s largest collections of nitrate prints, preserved at the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center, a state-of-the-art facility located 12 miles southwest of Rochester. The George Eastman Museum is also a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the world’s leading group in the field of film conservation and preservation, and the museum’s collection of over 28,000 titles covers the entire history of cinema, from Edison and the Lumière brothers to contemporary works by Peter Greenaway and Tacita Dean.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program and, its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. For more information, visit eastman.org and follow the George Eastman Museum account on Facebook, as well as the @eastmanmuseum accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.