Film Discovery and Restoration
Discovery is at the heart of Block Cinema. As part of an academic art museum, the cinema approaches film exhibition as a form of research, uncovering overlooked works and opening new perspectives on moving-image history.
Sometimes that research uncovers a film that has gone unseen for decades and can only return to the screen through preservation work. In these cases, Block Cinema works with filmmakers, families, archives, and technical specialists to recover surviving materials and create copies that can be viewed and studied. These projects develop selectively, as discoveries and collaborations emerge from the cinema’s research and programming.
Whether through digitization, new film prints, or restoration, this work makes particular films accessible again, bringing underrecognized artistic voices into public conversation and creating new possibilities for teaching and research.
The projects below highlight films that Block Cinema has helped recover, digitize, restore, or preserve.
| Film or project | Block Cinema’s work | Project year |
|---|---|---|
| Films by Rowena Pattee Kryder | Block Cinema received a National Film Preservation Foundation grant to preserve two experimental animated films by artist Rowena Pattee Kryder. The project extends the cinema’s work recovering overlooked contributions to independent and experimental animation. | 2026 |
| Cold Hands (1991) — Kip Hanks | In 2025, Block Cinema discovered the film’s master recording among purportedly blank U-matic tapes purchased for equipment testing. The discovery led to a new digital preservation of Hanks’ previously unseen feature, which received its first public screening at the Block in October 2026. | 2025–2026 |
| Make a Face (1971) — Karen Sperling | Working with Karen Sperling, Block Cinema created a new digital transfer from the last remaining film print of her debut feature. With the original 35mm materials lost, the surviving 16mm print provided the basis for returning the film to public view after five decades, with Sperling attending the screening. | 2026 |
| Films by Ed Counts (1986–1995) | Projectionist Ben Creech’s discovery of the animated short Rockers in the Picture Start collection led to a relationship with Counts’ daughter, who donated surviving elements of her father’s films. Block Cinema secured a National Film Preservation Foundation grant to work with Colorlab on digital and photochemical preservation, including new 16mm prints and digital access copies. | 2024–2025 |
| The Waiting Room (1973) — Karen Sperling | With the original film prints and negatives lost, Block Cinema worked with Sperling and commissioned Bay Area Video Coalition to create new digital transfers from the surviving U-matic tapes. The project enabled the film’s first public screening in more than 50 years, accompanied by a conversation with Sperling and scholars involved in recovering her work. | 2025 |
| Nancy, Henri, and Elizabeth (1973) — Bob Aibel and Lynn Fagan | Block Cinema partnered with USC’s Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive on a new 4K restoration of this long-unavailable documentary. The restoration premiered in the Block’s Trans Portraiture series and was subsequently presented at the Visible Evidence conference, where co-director Bob Aibel and participant Henri David attended. | 2025 |
| I Am Not This Body (1971) — Richard Kramisen and Sonya Baevsky | Block Cinema helped recover and digitally preserve this early documentary on a transgender subject, long considered lost. A new scan of the last remaining print enabled its return to public screening through Trans Portraiture, with historical context provided by researcher Os Keyes. | 2025 |
| Communication from Weber (1988) — Robert Gates | Through archival research, Block Cinema located a rare 16mm print in the Picture Start collection held by Chicago Filmmakers. The team helped return this portrait of artist and political thinker Lily Sabina Weber to circulation through digital preservation and presentations in Trans Portraiture and at the Visible Evidence conference. | 2025 |
| Badnam Basti (1971) — Prem Kapoor | Research by Block graduate fellow Simran Bhalla and curator Michael Metzger helped locate the only known 35mm print at Arsenal in Berlin. Because the print was too rare to travel, Arsenal created a digital transfer for the Block’s presentation. An online screening and scholarly discussion restored public access to a long-unseen work of Indian queer cinema. | 2019–2020 |