Films by Jesse Nishihata: Curating an Online Film Exhibition from CFMDC Storage Films

This thesis is an applied project where I inspect and catalogue films from the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) storage and curate an online film program. CFMDC has more than 300 films in storage that have been withdrawn from its circulation collection and not processed for decades. In one box of storage films, there are several reels of Jesse Nishihata’s films including films not in the CFMDC catalogue and film elements. This thesis looks at how film curation could be a catalyst for preservation. The first two chapters provide the literature review and introduction to Jesse Nishihata. The third chapter documents the work and research done to identify the films, their condition and copyright holders. The fourth chapter focuses on the details in organizing the online film exhibition including film selection processes, website building, digitization, captioning, and promotion. Finally, this thesis offers recommendations on how CFMDC could proceed with the films currently in storage.