Remastering of 1914 film “In the Land of the Head Hunters”

I just went through the fall 2009 American Indian Library Association (AILA) Newsletter and, on page 9, saw mention of a project to remaster Edward Curtis’s 1914 film “In the Land of the Head Hunters,” which preceded “Nanook of the North” as the first feature-length film to star all Native North Americans. Rutgers University has a website at http://www.curtisfilm.rutgers.edu/ dedicated to the project, which includes cool audiovisuals as well as discussions about the historical context of the making of the film and how Kwakwaka’wakw consultants and descendants of the cast are working on the restoration project. It is an extraordinary audiovisual artifact made even more so by the way that it helped to maintain and stimulate a culture and how its preservation continues to contribute to the reflection of the past and to fomenting culture.

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