Film director Martin Scorsese has made an impassioned plea for young people to embrace the rich cinema heritage of America before it disappears.

The 70-year-old Oscar-winning director of films such as Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Taxi Driver, was delivering the annual Jefferson Humanities lecture at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington.

In a speech called Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema, Scorsese said: “We’re face-to-face with images all the time in a way that we never have been before. Young people need to understand that not all images are out there to be consumed like, you know, fast food and then forgotten. We need to educate them to understand the difference between moving images that engage their humanity and their intelligence, and moving images that are just selling them something.”

Scorsese is the first filmmaker to deliver the Jefferson address since it was launched in 1972 (writers Tom Wolfe, Arthur Miller and Robert Penn Warren have been previous guest speakers) and he called for “visual literacy” to be taught in schools, as he cited a reference to Plato’s Phaedrus.

He said that films were a cultural artifact that needed preserving, because they “tell us who we are, ultimately”.

Scorsese’s lecture, reported by The Telegraph, incorporated a wide variety of movie clips to illustrate the four factors he regards as crucial to film — light (“something at the beginning of cinema”), movement, time and inference. He used an 1894 clip from Thomas Edison’s film studio, the Black Maria, featuring two cats ‘boxing’ to illustrate how movement has always been vital to film, and to show that today’s cult obsession with YouTube cat videos has its historical precedents.

But Scorsese argued that to fully comprehend the language of moving images, it is essential to “preserve everything” from blockbusters to home movies, by way of films which may not look like works of art on first showing. To prove his point, Scorsese screened a clip from Vertigo — regarded now as a work of brilliance but dismissed by many at the time of its release in 1958 as just another crowd-pleasing Alfred Hitchcock thriller (below, with James Stewart as John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson).

“It came very very close to being lost to us,” he said, adding that over time viewers can appreciate elements in a film that might not be evident on its initial release.

He also showed segments of the painstakingly restored 1958 British ballet film The Red Shoes — a seven-year effort in which he was closely involved — as he talked about the digitisation work done by the Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation he founded in 1990, which has helped save more than 500 fragile old films. Over 90 per cent of the silent films ever made, he said, are gone forever.

“Today we have some really wonderful tools,” said Scorsese, who last week announced plans with Hollywood studio Miramax to make a television version of his Oscar-nominated 2002 film Gangs of New York.

“Just as we learned to take pride in our poets and writers, and in jazz and blues, we need to take pride in our cinema, a great American art form. It’s a big responsibility. We have to really take good care of what’s left — everything, from the acknowledged masterworks of cinema to industrial films and home movies.” He added that “we need to treat every last moving image as reverently and respectfully as the oldest book in the Library of Congress.”

By Martin Chilton, Culture Editor online, The Telegraph

02 Apr 2013

As we walk up the red carpet the screams get louder and louder; unfortunately we realise early on this isn’t for us but for a certain George Clooney who is working his fans into a high pitched frenzy. The celeb spotting doesn’t stop there, this years 65^th British Academy Film Awards was one big celeb-fest.

From Brad Pitt to Meryl Streep and everything in-between this was one of the most impressive BAFTA’s to date. Despite the freezing conditions, the women paraded in their finery (with some carrying it off better than others) while the men looked as dashing as ever (take a bow Mr Fassbender!).

We were lucky enough to get front stall seats allowing a great view point for the stars below (including the amazing Scorsese) and the captivating and engaging Stephen Fry who returned as host and managed to carry the night with great aplomb and some seriously funny one liners.

The evening’s big winner was The Artist, which bagged seven major prizes including best film, best director for Michel Hazanavicius and best actor for Jean Dujardin as well as some very funny acceptance speeches. On the other hand, Meryl Streep won her second BAFTA for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, losing her shoe on the stairs in the process (thankfully the rather gallant Colin Firth reclaimed it and placed it back on her foot – a regular Cinderella moment!)

Best supporting actress went to Octavia Spencer for The Help and best supporting actor went to Christopher Plummer, 82, for Beginners, and in doing so, he became the oldest person to be awarded a BAFTA.

The outstanding British film award went to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and best documentary went to a very well deserving Senna.

For the full run down of winners, please see below. Me? I’m off to recover following an epic after party which still has the live gig from Emeli Sande ringing in my ears…

Academy Fellowship

Martin Scorsese

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

John Hurt

Best Film

The Artist - Winner
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer – The Help – Winner
Carey Mulligan – Drive
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Judi Dench – My Week With Marilyn
Melissa Mccarthy - Bridesmaids

Outstanding British Film

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Winner
My Week With Marilyn
Senna
Shame
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Debut

Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw – Winner
Attack The Block – Joe Cornish
Black Pond – Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst
Coriolanus - Ralph Fiennes
Submarine - Richard Ayoade

Director

The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius – Winner
Drive - Nicolas Winding Refn
Hugo - Martin Scorsese
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Tomas Alfredson
We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lynne Ramsay

Documentary

Senna – Winner
George Harrison: Living In The Material World
Project Nim

Original Screenplay

The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius – Winner
Bridesmaids - Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
The Guard – John Michael Mcdonagh
The Iron Lady – Abi Morgan
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen

Adapted Screenplay

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Winner
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides Of March
Moneyball

Film Not In the English Language

The Skin I Live In – Winner
Incendies
Pina
Potiche
A Separation

Animated Film

Rango – Winner
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Arthur Christmas

Leading Actor

Jean Dujardin - The Artist - Winner
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Clooney – The Descendants
Michael Fassbender – Shame

Leading Actress

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady – Winner
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
Viola Davis – The Help

Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer – Beginners - Winner
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides Of March

Original Music

The Artist - Ludovic Bource – Winner
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Hugo - Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

Cinematography

The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman – Winner
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo - Robert Richardson
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Hoyte Van Hoytema
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski

Editing

Senna - Gregers Sall, Chris King – Winner
The Artist - Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
Drive - Mat Newman
Hugo - Thelma Schoonmaker
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy – Dino Jonsater

Production Design

Hugo – Winner
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Costume Design

The Artist – Mark Bridges – Winner
Hugo - Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’connor
My Week With Marilyn – Jill Taylor
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Jacqueline Durran

Sound

Hugo - Winner
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Make Up & Hair

The Iron Lady – Marese Langan – Winner
The Artist – Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
Hugo - Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
My Week With Marilyn – Jenny Shircore

Special Visual Effects

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Winner
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Hugo
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
War Horse

Short Animation

A Morning Stroll - Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe – Winner
Abuelas - Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, Francesca Gardiner
Bobby Yeah – Robert Morgan

Short Film

Pitch Black Heist – Winner
Chalk
Mwansa The Great
Only Sound Remains
Two And Two

Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award

Adam Deacon – Winner
Chris Hemsworth
Tom Hiddleston
Chris O’dowd
Eddie Redmayne

The video below shows The Artist claiming it’s well deserved 7 BAFTAs.

check out some of our snaps from the night.