BFI Campaign to 'Rescue the Hitchcock 9'

The BFI’s campaign to Rescue the Hitchcock 9, a worldwide fund-raising initiative to support the urgent restoration of Hitchcock’s nine surviving silent films, has just received its largest single donation to date. The Film Foundation (chair: Martin Scorsese) is supporting the project, in partnership with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with a generous donation of $275,000 which will go towards the restoration of The Lodger, The Ring, Blackmail and The Pleasure Garden.

Donations have been coming in from around the world thanks to support from the online community and international press coverage from The Times of London to the New York Times, and reports everywhere from Japan to Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. The campaign is off to a great start but we still need more contributions to help us reach our target.

Martin Scorsese said, “I’m thrilled that these films will be preserved and made available with the best possible prints for audiences to enjoy. Hitchcock remains an enduring influence on world cinema, and these early works provide a wonderful glimpse into the development of his signature style.”

Amanda Nevill, BFI Director said, “We are delighted to acknowledge this very generous grant from our friends at The Film Foundation and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Hitchcock belongs not just to Britain but to the world, and we are grateful that so many people share our passion for his work.”

Hitchcock is internationally recognised as one of Britain's greatest ever film-makers. 30 years since his death he remains one of the world's most influential and important directors.

Hitchcock's early films are among the finest achievements of British silent cinema. On its first release The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1926) was acclaimed as a masterpiece and his subsequent films refined his techniques of stunning visual composition, richly cinematic storytelling linked to dramatic invention, which are uniquely Hitchcock.

New digital techniques mean that the BFI’s team of technical experts are now in a position to restore scratched and damaged negatives and produce much improved viewing copies. The surviving nitrate materials for these films bear the marks of wear and tear over the decades. .

As the campaign continues we are happy to receive even small amounts to help us reach our target. Members of the public who would like to save an important and historic film can contribute by visiting www.bfi.org/saveafilm.

THE HITCHCOCK 9:

THE PLEASURE GARDEN (1925), THE LODGER (1926), DOWNHILL (1927),

EASY VIRTUE (1927), THE RING (1927), THE FARMER'S WIFE (1927), CHAMPAGNE (1928), THE MANXMAN (1929), BLACKMAIL (1929)