The UCLA Film & Television Archive is renowned for its pioneering efforts to rescue, preserve and showcase moving image media, and is dedicated to ensuring that the collective visual memory of our time is explored and enjoyed for generations to come. Established in 1965, the Archive is the second-largest repository of motion pictures and broadcast programming in the United States, after the Library of Congress, and the world's largest university-held collection. More than 520,000 holdings of films, television programs, news footage and radio recordings are conserved in a state-of-the-art facility, called the PHI Stoa, in Santa Clarita, California.
The Archive holds over 350,000 motion pictures and 170,000 television programs, spanning the entire course of film and broadcasting history. The collection includes independent and studio-produced shorts and feature films, documentaries, local and network TV programming, commercials, news and public affairs broadcasts, LGBTQIA media, and 27 million feet of newsreels produced between 1919 and 1971.
Not all of the Archive's holdings are listed in the public catalog, so contacting the Archive Research and Study Center directly about holdings and access is recommended.
Motion pictures (silent era, classic Hollywood, independent cinema, LGBT collections, documentaries and newsreels, animated cartoons, foreign and contemporary American films), television (American telecasting from 1945 to date), and news and public affairs programs (1950 to date).
Includes help on using the Archive's catalog and arranging research viewing appointments at Powell Library.
Includes help on using the Archive's catalog, as well as profiles of major collections by topic.
Includes KTLA news footage documenting local history, the LGBTQIA series In the Life, selected L.A. Rebellion and UCLA student films, and more.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is committed to preserving moving image materials. Since 1977, UCLA Film & Television Archive has restored hundreds of titles, including silent films, beloved classics, and independent works of American cinema. Since 1987, more than 500 television programs have been restored. A full list of their feature film and television restoration work can be found here.
Below are a few examples of the restoration work done by the Archive. More videos and information can be found on their Youtube Channel.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive maintains a Blog that includes updates on their programming series, conversations with filmmakers, and additional information about the important ongoing work done by the institution.
The Archive's public programs take place year-round at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum in Westwood Village, Los Angeles. The Billy Wilder Theater is among a handful of venues nationwide able to exhibit an entire century's worth of moving images in their original formats. From the earliest silent films requiring variable speed projection all the way up to cutting-edge digital cinema, the Wilder can accommodate an array of screen technologies.