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May Hong HaDuong Named Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive

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A photo of the massive amount of archived material the FTA curates

The Archive is renowned for its pioneering efforts to rescue, preserve and showcase moving image media. It is dedicated to ensuring that film history is explored and enjoyed for generations to come.

May Hong HaDuong, who has served in the film archiving world for more than 15 years, has been appointed director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the world’s largest university-held collection of motion pictures and broadcast programming.

HaDuong will become the fourth director in the organization’s 55-year history and the first woman and person of color to lead the Archive, which is a division of UCLA Library, and the second-largest repository of moving images in the United States, after the Library of Congress. The UCLA alumna begins her new job on Feb. 22.

“I am delighted that May will be joining the UCLA Library as director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and I am confident she will provide outstanding leadership in this vital role,” said Virginia Steel, the Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian. “As we seek to broaden access to and representation across our collections, May’s experience in public access, her scholarly interests, and her personal biography, as both the daughter of immigrants and as an active proponent of underrepresented communities, uniquely positions her to move the film archive forward at this critical moment in its history.”

HaDuong is currently senior manager of public access at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she serves as a principal representative for the Academy’s film archive. Prior to serving at the Academy Film Archive, she was the project manager for the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project for LGBTQ Moving Image Preservation, a collaboration between the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Outfest, which produces the Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. She currently serves on the Legacy Project Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors of the ONE Archives Foundation.

She earned her master’s degree in moving image archive studies from UCLA in 2006, and her bachelor’s degree in cinema and media studies from Wellesley College in 2000.

“It is a tremendous privilege to return to the institution that planted my passion for moving image archiving, open access, and fostering cinema culture,” said HaDuong. “I am honored and excited to join the UCLA Film & Television Archive as its next director and deeply committed to the organization’s mission to rescue, preserve and showcase moving images.”

As director, HaDuong will oversee all areas of the Archive, including the collection, preservation and exhibition of film and television materials, management, digitization services, content licensing, and services provided by the Archive Research and Study Center, located in Powell Library. The ARSC provides access to materials for scholars and students, educators at all levels, film and television professionals as well as the general public.

Among the Archive’s two primary collections are more than 500,000 holdings, including approximately 159,000 motion picture titles and 132,000 television titles. Additional collections include more than 27 million feet of newsreels, 222,064 broadcast recordings, and 9,138 radio transcription disc holdings, among other materials.

The award-winning film director, writer and producer Gregory Nava called HaDuong “a born leader.” A fellow UCLA alumnus, Nava said, “May Hong HaDuong is a brilliant archivist who has a deep knowledge of film. She combines a profound understanding of the artistic aspects of film along with a vast technical knowledge that is truly impressive. I know she will bring incredible zeal and dedication to the UCLA Film & Television Archive.”

Read the Los Angeles Times story. This story was also featured in UCLA Newsroom.

 

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