ROGER LEATHERWOOD EXAMINES WEBSITE'S COLLECTION OF 'PHANTOM' MATERIALS
At Bright Lights Film Journal, Roger Leatherwood has written a fascinating article about Ari Kahan's The Swan Archives, and its incredible collection of marketing and other materials related to Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise.Leatherwood, author of the book Mondo Cine: The World of Film Exhibition and Archiving in Revolution, shows a particular interest in how Kahan has made his personal collection public, and how the internet has made it possible to digitally present these personally-owned artifacts to the world at large. In the process, notes Leatherwood, the site produces an historical record of a particular cultural time period. "Kahan revives leftover and obscure material," states Leatherwood, "and enables us to relive the time and context surrounding the film's release, recasting advertising messages and other devalued cultural memories as historical and archival evidence of its cultural positioning at the time of release and of how it was received." Read the full article at the link above-- it will make you want to delve into the archives again right after you're done.