UNESCO HONOURS CINESOUND MOVIETONE PRODUCTIONS

The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has announced that Cinesound Movietone Productions has been honoured for its archival film footage collection, which will now be added to the Australian Memory of the World Register. Canberra-based Australian Film archive, Screen Sound Australia, successfully nominated CMP's historical film collection for inclusion on the world register.
The prestigious award means CMPs historical footage can now be an immense resource of nation's bygone years for future generations of researchers, historians, and end user producers for information.
Glenn Eley, CMP Operations Manager, says, "Our Company is very proud of achieving this prestigious honour. As a major supplier of uniquely Australian and historical world footage to the industry, CMP remains mindful of its responsibility to ensure this wonderful collection survives for future generations of the Australian public to enjoy."
Cinesound Productions began in 1931, when it competed with Fox Movietone Newsreels in the various cinema chains to gain the so-called "first scoop" or breaking story, like "The Melbourne Cup." In 1939, both newsreels went to war, reporting and producing newsreels and war documentaries, many of which survive to this day, including one of the most poignant newsreels ever to be made, Kokoda Front Line, which went on to win a special Oscar for content.
At the end of hostilities, both Cinesound and Movietone returned to reporting news events within Australia until 1970 when, due to the advent of instantaneous television news, it became very evident the days of the cinema newsreel were numbered. During this transition period, the two companies decided to join forces and so created Cinesound Movietone Productions (CMP).
In the early 1990's Screen Sound embarked on a joint preservation programme entitled "Operation Newsreel" with CMPs joint venture partners - The Greater Union Organisation and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp (Aust).
To save this priceless collection both Greater Union and Twentieth Century Fox donated $4 million dollars and Screen Sound supplied its expert personnel to restore the master negatives, many spanning over half a century, to their original quality. The major restoration programme has now saved this uniquely Australian Film collection.
Ushering in a new era for this renowned Australian Company, CMPs vast collection of valuable archival film is now available to the entire industry. In cooperation with Sydney-based research company, Film World, which markets the collection under its own banner, the collection can be viewed and appreciated globally.

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