David Zaslav Loves Turner Classic Movies, but Is That Enough to Save Them? (Column)

Last week the National Society of Film Critics honored “TÁR” as the year’s best film, but it also handed out a prize that doubled as a cry for corporate investment.

One this year’s “Film Heritage Awards” recipients, Turner Classic Movies received a citation for its “rich array of programming that ranges deep and wide in the history of cinema, a service too easily taken for granted by audiences and worthy of the utmost care and attention from its corporate owners.”As an Nsfc member, I was happy to vote in favor of this award.

Few curatorial entities preserve cinema history while presenting it to a mass audience; of those, only TCM has the backing of a major media company.

That’s why fear we could lose it — and the broader efforts to preserve film history face equal peril.The economy, shaky box office, and a more somber assessment

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