"U.S. Friends of the Soviet People" Commits to Soviet Film Project, Fundraising

Last December [2008], comrades in the San Francisco Bay Area regained possession of what had been the film library of the Berkeley branch of the Soviet-American Friendship Society (SAFS), consisting of some 300 16-millimeter films. About a third have been exposed to open air for a long time, and are seriously degraded as a result. The rest are in good condition. A SAFS catalog from 1986 indicates a representative sample of all film categories exists in the Berkeley cache.

The goal of this project is to save these Soviet-era films from disintegration, and to produce DVDs and online content from them, assuring them life well into the 21st Century. New York-area FSP members have committed to take on this work, and comrades in Toronto have pledged an initial $4000 towards transportation, digitization, and related costs to see this project through to completion. This is about half of projected total costs, the rest of which has yet to be raised. Comrades in San Francisco will be raising funds as well.

In order to successfully complete this project, USFSP is also seeking an inexpensive or donated space in which to conduct the work, as well as volunteers willing to help run the machines. Please contact us if you can assist us in any of these ways.

The USFSP has committed to a sustained fundraising drive in its newsletter in support of this project. Your donation now will be critical to the success of our collective efforts to preserve these memories in film of the USSR! Please see the last page of this newsletter for information on sending funds to the USFSP, and please be sure to mark your donation as intended for the Soviet Film Project.

The USFSP has committed to a sustained fundraising drive in its newsletter in support of this project. Your donation now will be critical to the success of our collective efforts to preserve these memories in film of the USSR! Please see the last page of this newsletter for information on sending funds to the USFSP, and please be sure to mark your donation as intended for the Soviet Film Project.

How to contact USFSP:
U.S. Friends of the Soviet People
P. O. Box 140434, Staten Island NY, 10314-0434
Phone: 718-667-4740