On the final night at Cambridge Film Festival we were treated to a special screening of Charlie Shackleton’s experimental film The Afterlight.

What made the screening special is the nature of Shackleton’s film, where there is only one 35mm print in existence and like all 35mm prints, is subject to damage and decay and so is not going to last forever. 

The film consists of clips from hundreds of archive films with only one criteria – the actor or actress present is now deceased. Shackleton’s intent is to show the benefits of archive preservation as these classic performers are able to live on through film.

The context is therefore vital as, without it, it would be easy to watch without the necessary attention. Shackleton attempts to form a sense of narrative with the combined clips as the meticulous editing allows for a surprising level of cohesion between films from different eras and preservation standards. Perhaps the highlight of the film is when the actors or actresses reach a bar, and the score matches all clips to create a beautiful montage.

While the film lacks momentum past a certain point, it would be remissive to simply claim boredom when a screening has such rare historical meaning not applicable to a conventional film viewing.