Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, takes place at 8:00 PM online via Zoom. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend.

Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector.

Upcoming Discussions:

On Monday, November 18, 2024 at 8:00pm please join the Cinema Lounge, the DC Film Society's monthly film discussion group.

TOPIC: What Is the Future for Classic Hollywood Films? or Will Anyone Still Care About Greta Garbo in 2050? with David Pierce

Fans of classic films want to ensure that they are available to be seen – both on disc and on the big screen. In this talk, David Pierce explores the future for classic Hollywood films. He explores different aspects of “Classic Hollywood,” the incredible popularity of filmgoing during the 30s and 40s, how modern audiences discover these films today, what elements of these films might keep them from being accepted by modern audiences, and whether we should be optimistic that the current popularly and availability of these films is sustainable.

David Pierce is an archivist and historian. He recently retired as Assistant Chief and COO of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center at the Library of Congress. He worked at the British Film Institute (BFI) from 2001 to 2004, first as head of preservation and manager of the J. Paul Getty Jr. Conservation Center, and was appointed curator (head) of the archive in 2002. Pierce curated the first Library of Congress Festival of Film & Sound in June 2023, and the June 2024 AFI Classic Film Weekend, devoted to Pre-Code films, both held the AFI Silver.

Pierce is the author of The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912–1929, published for the National Film Preservation Board in 2013. He is the co-author (with James Layton) of The Dawn of Technicolor: 1915-1935, published in 2015 by the George Eastman Museum for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Technicolor company. The book received the award for Best Film Book of 2015 from the Theatre Library Association. He and James Layton also wrote King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman’s Technicolor Revue (2016). Pierce founded the Media History Digital Library, which has digitized two million pages of the printed record of the motion picture, broadcasting and recorded sound industries for free access. His articles have appeared in Film Comment, American Cinematographer, The Moving Image, and The Journal of Film Preservation. He is a member of the Production and Technology Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the Academy's Science and Technology Council.

Please RSVP to atspector@hotmail.com and you'll get the Zoom link 1-2 days before the discussion.

The Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, meets the third Monday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 8:00pm online via Zoom. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend. Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector, author of the DC Film Society's Adam's Rib column.