Video NewsBriefs, December 2010 

The winner of the Association of Moving Image Archivists’ (AMIA) first short film competition, commemorating AMIA’s 20th anniversary and launched concurrent to World Day for Audio Visual Heritage (Oct. 27), is Brian Rose’s His First Day, about an aspiring young filmmaker in 1930s Hollywood whose dream job quickly loses its luster. The film was selected from among over 1500 other films and 7500 film elements (rushes) from the UNESCO audiovisual archives for best conveying “the importance of preserving the world’s moving image heritage.” Watch a three-minute clip at bit.ly/dfL1tx.

In January 2011, owing to what the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls “a lack of confidence in continued support for libraries from state government,” Cranberry Public Library (CPL), PA, will begin charging $1 for three-day DVD rentals (fines on overdue DVDs will remain at $1 per day). Having circulated roughly 56,000 DVDs in 2010, the library expects the policy change to generate upward of $27,800 in revenue and savings. Also in response to Pennsylvania state funding cuts, CPL will close one hour earlier four days a week and will institute a $3 fee for guest-pass computer use and a $20 fee for proctoring exams.

In September, Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association (ALA), began relegating its adult and youth video reviews solely to its new bimonthly e-newsletter, Booklist Online Video. Responding to the move in a recent editorial, Randy Pitman, president of Booklist competitor Video Librarian, called Booklist’s decision to “completely banish video reviews—and only video reviews” from its print pages “another case of ALA sending a wrong message to librarians: one that is both dismissive of the format and out of touch with daily reality in libraries.”

New York–based film distributor Milestone Films, founded by husband and wife Dennis Doros and Amy Heller and also having extensive experience in film restoration and preservation, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Milestone specializes in independent features, documentaries, and foreign and silent films from around the world by legendary and contemporary directors alike (e.g., Luchino Visconti, Orson Welles, Jane Campion, and Hirokazu Kore-eda). Recent releases include Kent Mackenzie’s The Exiles (1961; LJ 7/10), a 2009 Library of Congress National Film Registry selection. More at www.milestonefilms.com.— Raya Kuzyk