by Chloe Kaplan
AFI Communications

Still from HEAD OVER HEELS (1922), an AFI preservation project screening November 8, 7:00 PM at the Linwood Dunn Theatre as part of AFI FEST 2006 presented by Audi.

Preservation takes many forms, and the American Film Institute continues essential work in its efforts to preserve America's rich film heritage.

While the largest focus of this undertaking currently resides with the Internet-based AFI Catalog of Feature Films, the institute continues to acquire original early films for the AFI Collection, a vital and indispensable part of the Library of Congress archive.

The collection includes over 27,500 titles consisting primarily of theatrical features and shorts, as well as substantial numbers of newsreels, documentaries and television programs.

When the American Film Institute was created in 1967, one of its key mandates was to initiate a coordinated effort to rescue original, unique or best-surviving moving image materials and bring them into the nation's archives.

No other institution was in a position to undertake this national-level effort at the time, and the ongoing development of the AFI Collection has played a major role in transforming the preservation field.

Today, AFI continues to locate, identify and acquire a diverse range of film and video materials for inclusion in the AFI Collection.

By donating these materials to the Library of Congress and other archives across the country, where they are preserved and made available to the public, the AFI Collection has facilitated archival cooperation and fostered the concept of a national collection.

Many early film and television programs are currently considered lost treasures.

Of the more than 21,000 feature-length films produced in the United States before 1951, only half exist today.

The rest have been lost or destroyed or have deteriorated beyond repair.

For newsreels, documentaries, and television programs, the survival rate is even less than half.

The AFI Preservation Center collects leads on lost films at (202) 252-3120 or (213) 856-7637.

Screening Wednesday, November 8, 7:00 PM at the Linwood Dunn Theatre as part of AFI FEST 20 Years celebrations are two silent films that were AFI preservation projects completed in 2005 and made possible by funds from The Film Foundation.

HEAD OVER HEELS (1922) is one of only three known surviving Samuel Goldwyn-produced features starring silent film comedienne Mabel Normand.

Normand also stars in MABEL'S DRAMATIC CAREER (1913), an early comedy short presented with live piano accompaniment.