Gaumont Presents Léonce Perret

November 14, 2003

Each year at MoMA, the Cinémathèque Gaumont presents recently restored films from its archives. This year's program focuses on the work of the pioneering actor, screenwriter, and director Léonce Perret (1880–1935), one of the most prolific and innovative filmmakers of Gaumont's silent period. Perret is celebrated for the wide narrative range of his cinema, notably the hundreds of comedies, dramas, and serials he made for Gaumont between 1906 and 1916, the year he left France for the United States. Selected by Martine Offroy, curator, Cinémathèqu Gaumont, based on her presentation at Il Cinema Ritrovato, the film preservation festival in Bologna, the Perret films were restored from original nitrate negatives by the Cinémathèqu Gaumont and the Cinémathèqu française in collaboration with the Centre National de la Cinématographie and the Ministry of Culture.

Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator.