The festival of film conservation returns June 4–June 7, 2026
Photo credit: Jackie McGriff
The Nitrate Picture Show, the festival of film conservation, returns to the George Eastman Museum Dryden Theatre for its tenth year June 4 through June 7, 2026. Tickets for the event go on sale beginning Tuesday, January 20 at 12 p.m. EST.
Following the sold-out 2025 festival, which welcomed 500 attendees from around the world, the Nitrate Picture Show offers film enthusiasts a rare opportunity to see vintage nitrate film prints from international archives and the Eastman Museum’s own collection. The festival also features lectures from leading archivists, giving attendees an inside look at the art and science of film preservation, from print conservation to archival projection.
“Last year, the passes sold out, indicating a strong interest in these unique original prints and a growing audience for them,” said Peter Bagrov, Director of the Nitrate Picture Show. “Yet, nitrate stock does have a lifespan, and some prints, which ran successfully a decade ago, are no longer projectable. We should keep that in mind and enjoy this exquisite cinematic treat while we can.”
Since the first edition of the festival in 2015, titles of the films have only been announced on the first day of the festival, and the last screening has been a Blind Date with Nitrate, where the title is revealed when the curtain rises and the light from the projector hits the screen. Past screenings include: tinted silent prints of Intolerance (D. W. Griffith, 1916) and The Joyless Street (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1925); original release prints of The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930), L’age d’or (Luis Bunuel, 1930), Becky Sharp (Rouben Mamoulian, 1935), Le jour se lève (Marcel Carné, 1939), Walt Disney’s Pinocchio (1940), Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942), Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944), Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948), The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1948) and Early Spring (Yasujiro Ozu, 1951); Walt Disney’s first color shorts, screen tests for Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940); as well as experimental works by Oscar Fischinger, Len Lye, Norman McLaren, and Mary Ellen Bute.
Passes and Benefits
The Festival Pass ($250) and Student/Member Pass ($195) grant the holder general admission access to all screenings and lectures held during the festival, as well as complimentary admission to the George Eastman Museum during the festival. Festival passholders have the opportunity to reserve spots for presentations, demonstrations, and tours. Passholders also receive gift bags with limited-edition Nitrate Picture Show ephemera and the comprehensive festival program.
New this year, the Reserved Seating Pass ($350) includes all of the perks of the above passes, as well as the opportunity to select their seat in the Dryden Theatre for the entirety of the festival.
The Patron Pass ($450) includes all of the perks of the above passes, as well as a premium thank-you gift in their tote bag. Patrons also receive acknowledgment by name at the following year's Nitrate Picture Show in the program catalogue and on displayed signage.
Only 150 reserved seats in total (Reserved Seating Pass and Patron Pass) will be available. If reserved seating sells out, a waitlist will be available.
Single-Screening general admission tickets for individual screenings, if available, may be purchased at the Dryden Theatre box office during the festival.
For more information, visit eastman.org/nitrate-picture-show.
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. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books and archival materials related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. The museum is located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. 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. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit eastman.org.
