NEWSLETTER
The festival breaks with tradition and announces its first title to the public; the fan favorite film from the 1st Nitrate Picture Show will kick off the weekend of screenings, lectures, and special events
Rochester, N.Y. (February 19, 2020) —The George Eastman Museum recently announced that Portrait of Jennie (William Dieterle, 1948) will screen on Thursday, June 4 at 7:30 p.m. to kick off the 6th Nitrate Picture Show. Traditionally, the Nitrate Picture Show has kept all of the film titles a secret until the first day of the festival. Due to the overwhelmingly rave reviews to the initial screening of Portrait of Jennie during the 1st Nitrate Picture Show in 2015, festival organizers have decided to give festival-goers another chance to experience it on the big screen.
The George Eastman Museum will be screening David O. Selznick’s personal print of Portrait of Jennie (1948), which features the original coloring in the final reel, moving from tinting to a final three-strip Technicolor shot. The museum’s presentation of the film will re-create the Magnascope effect that was originally used for showings in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, as the screen opens up to reveal a wider image in the final reel.
“The reaction of the audience in 2015 to experiencing Portrait of Jennie on the silver screen prompted the festival team to bring it back this year,” said Jared Case, Festival Co-Director. “This is a one-of-a-kind experience that you can have only at the Nitrate Picture Show.”
In addition to the Thursday night screening, the 6th Nitrate Picture Show, the world’s festival of film conservation will be offering a new, extended lineup of nitrate prints on screen, workshops, and behind-the-scenes tours of the museum and its collection areas. This year’s festival will feature 12 programs over the course of four days, including nitrate prints from around the world. Festival passes, including tickets for tours and workshops, are still available through the museum’s website at eastman.org/nps.
TICKET INFORMATION
Festival Passes
Passes include admission to all screenings and lectures, plus complimentary entrance to the George Eastman Museum June 4–7, 2020. Patrons receive a special gift and recognition on-site and in print.
- Patron Pass: $250
- Weekend (Regular) Pass: $175
- Student/Member Passes: $125
About the George Eastman Museum Nitrate Collection
The George Eastman 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 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 450,000 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, through its two joint master’s degree programs with the University of Rochester, makes critical contributions to film preservation and to photographic preservation and collections management. For more information, visit eastman.org.
# # #
Media Contact: Kellie Fraver
(585) 327-4813