PRI’s Lisa Mullins talks to Patrick Loughney, director of the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation about the return of priceless American silent films from Russia. The films no longer existed in the US and were preserved in Russia, thanks to proper film storage. The Library of Congress press release is here:

“Because of neglect and deterioration over time, more than 80 percent of U.S. movies from the silent era no longer exist in the United States. In the past 20 years, the Library of Congress and others have made great efforts to locate and repatriate missing U.S.-produced movies from foreign archives.

This new gift to the Library is in the form of digital copies of the preserved films. Preliminary research conducted by the staff of the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation indicates that up to 200 movies produced by U.S. movie studios of the silent and sound eras may survive only in the Gosfilmofond archive. Copies of these films will eventually be sent to the Library of Congress.”