The 2017 Annual Redding Silent Film Festival has been canceled
It is with deep regret that we inform of the passing of Mr. David Shepard, world-renowned film preservationist who has been instrumental in the production of the Annual Redding Silent Film Festival.
The Shasta County Arts Council is currently working on the revitalization of the Festival as is hoping to be able to bring it back in 2018.
Thanks to David Shepard, world-renowned film preservationist, the Festival can boast a real movie theater experience, with films projected off reels, accompanied by the chatter of an old-times movie projector.
Well-known internationally in film circles, Shepard has spent the major part of his career restoring early cinema for DVD and video editions. Recent projects include Abel Gance’s “La Roue” (1922), “Chaplin at Keystone” (1914) and C. B. DeMille’s 1927 production of “Chicago”. The list of other cinema restoration projects completed by Shepard throughout his career is considerable and significant.
Shepard taught cinema for 34 years at the University of Southern California, where he was also director of the Louis B. Mayer Film and Television Study Center; UCLA, where he was honored in 1983 as “the outstanding teacher in performing and integrated arts”; Claremont Men’s College; the University of Iowa; and Pennsylvania State University. He has also co-authored or edited more than a dozen books.
Shepard currently lives in northern rural California with eight dogs and works in a handmade log house of his own design. He is also active in community affairs and continues to work nationally with various archives and laboratories to preserve rare films.
In the words of Mike Mashon, Head, Moving Image Section, Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, “David is a giant in the field of film preservation, one of those rare talents who exemplifies the scholar’s rigorous research, the archivist’s attention to detail, and the fan’s unabashed love and enthusiasm for movies.”