Tessa Idlewine is a film preservationist (moving-image archivist) affiliated with the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Festival de Cannes+4historyproject.org.uk+4LinkedIn+4

Current Role: She is known as the Short Film Preservationist at the Academy Film Archive. University of East Anglia+3historyproject.org.uk+3LinkedIn+3

Work Scope: Her work involves preserving, cataloging, restoring, and conserving short films, home movies, student films, and increasingly feature films as well. She applies both photochemical methods (film-based restoration) and digital techniques (scanning, color correction, creating new prints) as needed. Festival de Cannes+3historyproject.org.uk+3LinkedIn+3

Notable Project: She oversaw the restoration of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for its 50th anniversary edition, scanning original 35 mm negatives and doing digital restoration. Festival de Cannes+1

Earlier Projects: She has also worked on restorations of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe films, e.g. Masque of the Red Death, where she used a mix of negative elements and Technicolor prints to recover censored footage. historyproject.org.uk+1

Education & Background:
  • She earned a BA in 2009 (mentioned in a profile about the Academy archive team) lclark.edu
  • She did a master’s in film archiving (in England) after discovering moving-image archiving during her undergraduate years. lclark.edu+1
  • She was drawn to preservation via a general interest in history, archival work, old manuscripts, photographs, etc.