When movies caught fire: The history and science of nitrocellulose film

Did you know that over 75% of silent films have disappeared? The culprit: highly flammable film! We open this episode of Tiny Matters with a poker bet, a decades long grudge, and a garage full of film before we hop into the rise of nitrate (nitrocellulose) film and how it shaped film history. We chat with Robert Shanebrook, who literally wrote the book on Kodak film, and with collection manager Deborah Stoiber at the George Eastman Museum, the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the oldest film archives. We talk about the science of preserving and conserving the nitrate films that have survived, and why it’s so important for keeping cultural memories alive. Did you know that ‘George Eastman, Kodak, and the Birth of Consumer Photography’ is a National Historic Chemical Landmark? Read more about it here. Check out Wow if True here or wherever you listen to podcasts!A transcript and references for this episode can be found at acs.org/tinymatters.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.