IU boasts world’s history of film

"Rosebud."

It is perhaps one of the most famous words in the history of cinema. Its meaning won’t be disclosed here — a bad way to spoil a famous mystery — but since its conception, millions have pondered what Charles Foster Kane meant when he uttered it on his deathbed in “Citizen Kane.”

Sue Presnell, one of the reference and technical assistants at the Lilly Library, brings out an unmarked green box and sets it on the table. The contents of this box must be handled with gloves, she warns, due to its history and value.

She opens the box and pulls out a folder. Inside are a series of storyboards.

“These were used during production,” she says.

She returns this folder and grabs its partner, a much thicker volume, and opens it. After searching through a few pages of the rough draft script, there it is, towards the bottom of a yellowing page.

“Rosebud.”

It’s not often that the general public has access to film scripts and documents. Far less often is access granted to the first rough draft of “Citizen Kane,” Orson Welles’ legacy in the cinematic world. But here, amidst millions of other documents, the University holds a number of film collections, divided throughout various parts of campus.

There’s the Orson Welles collection, as well as the John Ford collection, housed at the Lilly Library. There’s the David Bradley collection, willed to the University by the filmmaker’s estate, also located at the Lilly Library.

There’s the Black Film Center/Archive, which houses films like “Superfly,” at the Herman B Wells Library. The Wells Library plays host to a collection of historic educational films. Even the Kinsey Institute hosts approximately 8,000 films in its collections.

Jon Vickers, the incoming director of the IU Cinema, said he was drawn to his position at IU because of both the collections housed here and the support for maintaining an active interest in film.

“They’re magnificent collections, with over, I believe, 10,000 film prints between 16 mm and 35 mm here in the holdings on campus that we can dip into to help build the program for the cinema,” Vickers said.

The IU Cinema, slated to open fall 2010, will play host to screening opportunities for a number of films that would normally not receive attention, including those housed within the collections.

“We want this to be a world class facility that is dedicated to the scholarly study of film and the high standards of exhibition in its traditional and modern forms,” Vickers said. “I think for the first time ever, we want to allow public research of these holding. Some of these unique holdings that are on 35 mm or 16 mm, students don’t have great access to them.”

The educational film collections and Kinsey collections were obtained through donations and collecting through the years.

The Collections dealing with cinema history, like the John Ford and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich collections, were purchased by the University to establish itself as a premier film holder.

Vickers said by building this reputation, filmmakers and collectors are more likely to approach the University with their holdings.

Not all of the film collections host the actual film. The Orson Welles collection includes a number of scripts and transcripts, both from his radio appearances and movies, but no actual film. But even these pieces of film history can be used to understand and appreciate the legacy of the medium.

“There aren’t films related to those collections, but it’s a great opportunity to build a retrospective around Orson Welles where we can have displays about what helped shape these filmmakers while we show their movies,” Vickers said. “I think there’s so many creative ways that we can work with these collections over the years.”

Film archivist Rachael Stoeltje, who has spent the last 12 years working with the various collections, said IU’s holdings are unique not only in cinema history but in the history of film recordings as well.

IU’s collection of educational films, once used as a distributor to other universities and schools around the country before the advent of home video, contains films that other universities have since discarded.

“A lot of universities across the country have thrown that stuff away now, so we have a really unique collection on that,” she said.

Currently a large portion of the collections are being registered within IUCAT, IU’s library records database.

Stoeltje said materials would be made available in December, because of the push to preserve the collections so they may be more accessible to students and researchers. Vickers said the digitization would help bring the collections to the public.

The university has made the choice of trying to find a way to digitize and protect the holdings, including the film holdings,” he said. “So the more accessible they become through digitization, the better it is for research.”

While both Stoeltje and Vickers said there were no plans at the moment to acquire any new collections, Vickers said he would certainly pursue other collections to build upon the University’s holdings.

With a new cinema to present the work, he said, more collections would provide for a more rounded and enriching experience for the campus.

“This really will change the way students and faculty look at film on campus,” he said.