The Harvard Film Archive (HFA), one of New England’s largest depositories of independent, international and silent films, is in the midst of a massive restoration project of its 9,000 titles.

“There was clearly a need to systematically care for a very valuable film collection. It’s the difference between providing good storage...and going the extra mile in cleaning, repairing, and really maintaining good records on film,” curator Bruce Jenkins said.

Of the 9,000 films, 6,000 are prints and 3,000 are videotape masters, DVDs and other video formats. Most have never been looked at, said conservator Julie A. Buck. In some cases, there has been severe deterioration of the film.

“Previously, when we loaned to other archives, there was never a formal inspection. The data base only had the title and director but not the condition it was in,” Buck said.

“The short term goal is to examine and determine the conservation status of every film in our collection. We’ll have an overview of all the films we own, what amount of danger they are in and what amount of preservation work still needs to be done,” archive manager Brian Meacham said.

The HFA owns a wide variety of films, many of which it lends to universities, museums and other archives throughout the world.

“We have not only the masterpieces of international cinema, but also prints from the golden age of Hollywood. We have experimental films, as our collection began with documentaries,” he said.

According to Jenkins, one of the rarest prints—a documentary from the 1950s by Alain Resnais and Chris Marker found only in America—is held by HFA.

“It’s one of the gems of our collection,” Jenkins said.

To check the condition of a film, the print is unwound across a “rewind bench.”

“You check for sprocket damage—it won’t play if there is damage,” Buck said.

Other things to look out for are image quality—if the image has faded—and physical damage.

Buck said that some prints are ripped down the center. If this is the case, the film can be digitally restored, or patched using film tape.

“You’ll see a line, but it’s still playable,” she said.

Sometimes, the film physically shrinks, and it won’t play in the projector.