Press Release

For Immediate Release Contact: Carol O’Sullivan
August 26, 2008 412-681-5449


Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Announce
Pittsburgh Reframed (at 250), Short Films to Celebrate the City

(Pittsburgh, PA) -- As part of the year-long Pittsburgh 250 celebration, PF/PCA has invited local artists to create Pittsburgh-themed short films (no longer than two minutes and fifty seconds) that incorporate clips from Pittsburgh, a rarely seen promotional film made 50 years ago for Pittsburgh’s Bicentennial. A screening of the new short films will take place on Saturday, November 22 at the Regent Square Theater – the closing night event of the Three Rivers Film Festival.

Film and video artists expected to participate in Pittsburgh Reframed (at 250) include:
Tony Buba, Olivia Ciummo, Brian Cohen, Matthew R. Day, Patrick Francart, Carolina Loyola Garcia, Ben Hernstrom, Charlie Humphrey, Thad Kellstadt, Brady Lewis, Michael Mallis, Jesse McLean, Gordon Nelson, Drew Pavelchak, Bob Rutkowski, Elizabeth Seamans, Minette Seate, Chris Smalley and Josh Tonies.

The original footage from the 1958 film was recently inspected, cleaned and copied to HD video. All participating filmmakers will use original Pittsburgh footage. Some will use only original footage, manipulating and re-configuring it, and others will use just five seconds (the minimum requirement) from the old film. Both the original film and a compilation of the new shorts will be available for purchase on DVD after the Three Rivers Film Festival.

The original 35mm film, called simply Pittsburgh is legendary, partly because it was considered an expensive failure -- costing $150,000 (today’s equivalent: $1,037,445) and partly because some impressive names had a hand in its making. Acclaimed photographer W. Eugene Smith, the photojournalist “Weegee” (Arthur Fellig), filmmakers Stan Van Der Beek and Len Lye contributed, as did Willard Van Dyke and experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage (using the pseudonym “James Stanley”). The result is an odd blend of industrial documentary, chamber of commerce booster-ism, and avant-garde art film. But mostly Pittsburgh is a mystery because so few people have seen it.

Its curious history began when a Bicentennial committee decided to commission a promotional film to celebrate Pittsburgh’s first two hundred years. It would extol the success of the city’s first Renaissance, showing off clean air, clean rivers and effective flood control.


It’s believed there were several versions of Pittsburgh, in an attempt to please a large committee with conflicting views. But the final version (28 minutes) pleased no one, and the project was shelved. For 20 years the camera negatives, the out-takes and the print rolls were in storage. In 1978 the 35mm print rolls and all of the camera negatives were gifted to Pittsburgh Filmmakers, from Ted Hazlett and the project’s primary funder, the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Foundation.

It was only shown to the public – in three scheduled screenings – as part of a new film component at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in 1979.

The project is supported by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.


For more information: www.pittsburgh250film.blogspot.com


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