Scorsese reveals World Cinema Foundation partnerships

The WCF which is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of neglected films from around the world has formed separate alliances with B-Side Entertainment and virtual cinematheque The Auteurs. Scorsese also announced said that former New York Film Society associate director of programming, Kent Jones, has been named as the WCF’s new executive director. 

The aim of the partnerships with B-Side Entertainment and The Auteurs is to market, promote and distribute a slate of restored WCF titles. 

Scorsese spoke about watching the restored movies.  “There are moments where I think how these films inspire me. I get inspired to get back on set.”

In terms of the selection process, Scorsese receives title suggestions and titles are suggested by the board. He added: “Sometimes I suggest certain film-makers and films because of the historical importance or because of my passion for those titles.”

The films that the WCF restores every year will now have their festival premiere in Cannes and then begin their tour via a network of other festivals and museum exhibitions.  During the museum tour of the restored 35mm prints, the films will also now be made available digitally for the first time through The Auteurs. 

Shortly after the film premieres digitally, the films will roll out through the partnership with B-Side to universities and film clubs, and will reach film lovers at home through B-Side’s relationships with platforms such as Netflix and iTunes. 

The films will be made available on DVD in collectors’ edition box sets through a partnership with The Criterion Collection who will also select a few titles each year to distribute individually with all of the elements that come with their special edition expertise.The WCF would then be able to reinvest a share of revenues from these new forms of distribution into other neglected films for preservation and restoration.

Today The Auteurs’ partnership with the WCF made four of the film titles immediately available for free on a global level through a newly dedicated WCF portal on their site.

Titles that Scorsese and the WCF will present at this year’s Cannes Classics Series include Shadi Abdel Salam’s The Mummy- The Night of Counting the Years (Egypt, 1969) and Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day (Taiwan, 1991).