Rescued Film Project Resurrects Incredible 70-Year-Old Footage

Credit: Vimeo/Rescued Film Project

Credit: Vimeo/Rescued Film Project

This just in from the "That's So Coooool!" Department: A batch of 70-year-old film has been developed and preserved. Not to get all clickbait-y on ya, but the end will actually WOW you.

The film originally belonged to a soldier who served in World War II. Once in the hands of the Rescued Film Project, an independent organization that seeks to save abandoned, undeveloped film from the 1930s to the 1990s, the film was cataloged and added to their archives. The video details the painstaking process of developing and digitally preserving the fragile film (sounds boring, I know, but just watch). I won't spoil the ending, but the results are pretty rad.

These photos are an exciting glimpse into the mundane—but, then again, very singular—life of some stranger who faded into obscurity, but unknowingly left behind a cheeky glimpse into his everyday realities. The narrator of the video kind of touches on just how exciting it is the be the one to bring to life photos that were taken so long ago; to be the first one to see what sort of magic they hold (like the Orb of Isis episode of The Simpsons, sorta). Kind of makes you wonder if, with all the digital detritus we leave behind, your ordinary life will seem remarkable to someone long after you're gone. If you don't think history is pretty magical after viewing this . . . you might be a robot.

The Rescued Film Project is very new and seeking support, and if this is any indication of the kind of work they do, they deserve your funds. You can find ways to help out here, and if you've got some found film you don't trust yourself to develop, they'll take it.

Now: Time for the video itself:

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