Help Paul Thomas Anderson and Nicholas Winding Refn Save the Movies

You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard of — let alone seen— The Astrologer.

The film, an “auto-biopic,” was realized and self-financed by real life-astrologer Craig Denny, released in 1975 and rarely seen since. Now, the American Genre Film Archive, along with board members Paul Thomas Anderson and Nicholas Winding Refn, are working to save the film for posterity.

Much to-do has been made in cinematic circles about the need preserve the films shot on 35mm film and now at risk of degrading to the point of disappearing. Both New York’s Museum of Modern Art and UCLA’s film archives have made great strides in preserving the important films of the bygone pre-digital age. But when it comes to less important films like The Astrologer and its ilk, few have stepped up to save them — until now.

The American Genre Film Archive — which was founded with the mission of preserving “horror, sleaze, action, and independent regional filmmaking,” “regardless of ‘artistic’ merit” — has set up an Indiegogo campaign in the hopes of saving even more of these so-called orphan films.

AGFA, which is home to many rare titles, including films that can’t be lent out because only one copy exists, is looking to film buffs around the world to help raise the funds necessary to preserve 2,000 films, including some of the rarest titles in their archive. AGFA will also create digital duplicates of the films to help fulfill their mission of sharing these films with the world.

Get involved here.

[via The AV Club]

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