The professional and personal papers of the late filmmaker Jonathan Demme have been donated to the University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor.
The materials will become part of the “Screen Arts Mavericks and Makers” collection, which also includes the works of Orson Welles, Robert Altman, John Sayles, Nancy Savoca, Ira Deutchman and others.
Philip Hallman, curator of the Mavericks collection, said there are many throughlines that exist between Demme’s archive and others whose materials are already at the university collection.
“It feels so right on a number of levels that Jonathan’s archive is at U-M,” Hallman said in a statement. “He’s worked with Nancy and Ira and John before, so there are actually many items related to his work that can already be found here. This donation both provides another important window into the world of indie film, and makes the existing archive stronger and more connected.”
The donation by Demme’s family was announced Friday at the Traverse City Film Festival ahead of a screening of “Swimming to Cambodia,” a 1987 film he directed. The collection includes photographs, scripts, correspondence, personal notes, promotional items, costumes and props.
Part of the Demme collection includes unfinished footage and outtakes from the filmmaker’s documentaries. Hallman hopes they will become part of a class where film students have the opportunity to repurpose the footage and create new work.
Once processed, the materials will be made available both digitally and upon special request via the U-M Library’s Special Collections Research Center.
Among the many films Demme directed were the Academy Award winning “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” as well as the Talking Heads’ acclaimed concert film “Stop Making Sense.”
Demme, who died in April 2017 at the age of 73, is survived by his wife Joanne Howard and their three children.
__________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.