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Made possible by the John H. Mitchell Television Programming Endowment. UCLA Film & Television Archive and NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies present

Orphan Film Symposium: All-Television Edition

A kaleidoscopic graphic that reads "World Premiere."
April 21, 2023 -
April 22, 2023


Admission is free and open to the public, first come, first served.

Download the symposium program guide (PDF).

More than Wires and Lights in a Box

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to present an all-television special edition of New York University’s renowned Orphan Film Symposium. Lost, neglected, forgotten, rare and underseen works produced for the cathode ray-tube and beyond—a vast wonderland. Kinescopes, videotapes and more. Exhibited on the big screen, introduced and contextualized by scholars, artists and archivists.

Hosted by Dan Streible, founder, Orphan Film Symposium, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies; and May Hong HaDuong, Director, UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Sessions and presentations to include rare and restored film and video gems from the collections of UCLA, Library of Congress, National Museum of African American History and Culture, University of South Carolina Moving Image Research Collections (Fox Movietone News), University of Georgia, Brown Media Archive (Peabody Awards Collection), Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, Proimágenes Colombia, and others.

The eclectic and diverse content will include seldom-seen programming from across eight decades of the 20th century. Look for:

  • Black history
  • Cable access programs
  • Chicana/o/x TV
  • Colombian TV documentary
  • Commercials
  • DuMont television
  • Failed pilots for network television
  • Local television
  • Newsreel outtakes from the invention era
  • Public television
  • TV news
  • Women in television

and other arguments for the preservation of television.


Special thanks to our community partner
: UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Past Programs & Events

Title Date and Time Location
A kaleidoscopic graphic that reads "World Premiere."

Orphan Film Symposium: All-Television Edition Day 2

Saturday, April 22, 2023 - 11:30 am Billy Wilder Theater
A kaleidoscopic graphic that reads "World Premiere."

Orphan Film Symposium: All-Television Edition Day 1

Friday, April 21, 2023 - 7:30 pm Billy Wilder Theater