Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Archive
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Abstract
The Flaherty Seminar, named in honor of filmmaker Robert Flaherty (1884-1951), is an annual film event for filmmakers, critics, curators, musicians, and film enthusiasts founded by his widow and filmmaking partner Frances in 1955. The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Archives contains over 1,200 video and audio recordings of activities and discussions that occurred at the various Seminars in their over fifty-year history.
Historical Note
The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar is the longest continuously running film event in North America. Named after director Robert Flaherty, The Seminar began in 1955 when Flaherty's widow, Frances, convened a group of filmmakers, critics, curators, musicians, and other film enthusiasts at the Flaherty farm in Vermont. For more than fifty years the Flaherty Seminar has been firmly established as a one-of-a-kind institution that seeks to encourage filmmakers and other artists to explore the potential of the moving image. The films of such directors as Robert Drew, Louis Malle, the Maysles brothers, Mira Nair, Satyajit Ray, John Cassavetes, Yasujiro Ozu, Pedro Costa and Robert M. Young were shown at the Seminar before they were known generally in the American film community.
The weeklong Seminar brings together over 160 filmmakers, artists, curators, scholars, students, and film enthusiasts to celebrate the power of the moving image. Registration is open to the public and participants gather for a communal living experience that includes meals, social hours, special events, and at least three screening sessions daily followed by discussion. A different programmer is selected each year to shape the Seminar's theme and objective, which relates to a regional or national cinema, examines a stylistic feature, or responds to current world events. The Seminar is an intimate and intense experience where the traditional barriers between maker and audience are gradually obliterated. The structure of the event ensures that participants have greater access to the featured artists than would be found at festivals or conferences.
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Biographical Note
Robert Flaherty (1884-1951) was an American filmmaker who created the documentary films Nanook of the North (1922), Moana (1926), Man of Aran (1934), and Louisiana Story (1948). He is credited with originating the docufiction and ethnofiction film genres. The Flaherty Seminar, named in his honor, is an annual film event established by his widow and filmmaking partner Frances at the Flaherty farm in Vermont in 1955. Each weeklong Seminar held since then brings together filmmakers, artists, curators, scholars, students, and film enthusiasts for special events, social hours, and daily film screenings followed by discussions. A different programmer is selected each year to shape the Seminar's theme and objective. In its over fifty-year history the Flaherty Seminar, which now meets in upstate New York, has encouraged filmmakers to celebrate the legacy of Robert Flaherty's filmmaking and to explore the potential of the moving image. Sources: About the Flaherty Seminar The Flaherty Donates the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Audio Collection to NYU Fales Library and Special Collections
Arrangement
The collection comprises seven series:
Series I: Flaherty Film Seminars.
Series II: Public TV.
Series III: Flaherty Israel.
Series IV: Film Council.
Series V: Robert Flaherty Recordings and Other Seminar Related Material
Series VI: Seminar and Administrative Papers.
Series VII: Financial Papers.
Audiovisual recordings are organized into five thematically-organized series, Series I-V. The paper materials are organized into two series, Series VI and VII. They are described at the box level and arranged chronologically by year, and alphabetically within the years.
Scope and Contents
The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Archive includes over 1,200 recordings dating back to the 1958 Flaherty Seminar. The recordings of film screenings and discussions at the yearly Seminars include filmmakers Charles Burnett, Shirley Clarke, Bruce Connor, Frances Flaherty, Hollis Frampton, William Greaves, Ken Jacobs, Pauline Kael, Barbara Kopple, Richard Leacock, David Maysles, and Agnes Varda. In addition to the Flaherty Seminar video and audio recordings, the collection also contains paper records and photographs from The Flaherty organization.
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Conditions Governing Access
Repository permission is required for access. Please contact NYU Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Archives; MSS 326; folder number or item identifier; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Archives was donated to Fales Library by Mary Kerr, Executive Director of The Flaherty, in 2012. The accession number associated with this gift is 2011-326. An accretion of audio recordings was later donated to Fales Library in 2015. The accession number associated with this gift is 2015-326.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to some audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.
Audiovisual materials that have not been preserved may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact NYU Special Collections (special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596) with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The collection was processed at the box level.
