After the death of Phil Serling, the founder of Syracuse Cinephile Society, in 2002, people thought the organization would call cut.

“It didn’t, we just kept going,” said Gerry Orlando, SCS president. “We just kept going, and we’ve changed things as necessary from film to digital to accommodate with the digital age.”

After Serling’s death, the organization’s main event — Cinefest — has continued to screen vintage motion pictures since then. Through the film convention, SCS screens dated classic films, and this will be the festival’s 35th and final year.

Cinefest will take place Thursday through Sunday at the Liverpool Holiday Inn. People who want to attend can purchase tickets through a reservation form online. The registration fee for all four days is $85 per person, or $30 per day. Attendees can also pay the admission fee on the day of the convention if tickets are not sold out.

The SCS aims to preserve and celebrate the art and history of vintage films through Cinefest, which features various collections of specialty films from private libraries, according to the SCS website. Cinefest annually showcases rare, obscure motion pictures that date back to the early 1900s.

Orlando said the problematic clash of vintage film restoration and the digital age is the reason for the discontinuation of Cinefest. Many film archives are now digitally preserving their films instead of keeping them on film, making the films easily accessible on the Internet.

“If a movie is the only available film print, and somebody really wants to see it, they would fly in from all over the world to see it at Cinefest,” Orlando said. “But if they can online stream it now, it doesn’t make sense for them to fly here to see it.”

In order to cater to the ever-changing nature of the media, Cinefest has had to undergo some alterations.

“We’re going from film to digital, which is better because we’re contracting with Hollywood studios and we’ll be able to get nice, pristine versions of classic films,” Orlando said. “This opens the vault for us because now, a lot of films that were not available before will now be available to us.”

The purpose of accommodating to a new era and revamping the convention is to cater to and target as many age groups as possible, Orlando said. Every year, Cinefest attracts more young people who are able to discover classic films they’ve never seen before.

Despite the digital age takeover prevalent in modern-day media platforms, the restoration and preservation of film history are primary goals of both the SCS and Cinefest, the SCS website said. The convention gathers film historians, educators and archivists from all over the nation who are passionate about classic vintage motion pictures.

Orlando described the atmosphere of this year’s Cinefest as “a fun party,” since it will be SCS’s last year hosting the convention.

“It’s really going to be a fun time because we want to go out with a bang,” Orlando said.

Attendance at Cinefest has always been successful, judging from the statistics of previous years. Orlando said the event averages about 500 people every year, but that this year, the organization is expecting 700 because it’s the final one.

In addition, it has been a Cinefest tradition to have three to four pianists perform during the silent films. This year, the organization will be bringing eight as a grand finale to the 35-year tradition.

To conclude the final Cinefest, Orlando said there will be a big cake Friday night and on Saturday, he will personally acknowledge everyone with whom he has worked as a chance for everyone to say their goodbyes.

Published on March 19, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact; tchuang@syr.edu