A New York film preservation group facing eviction from their quarters in the Tribeca area of the city has been rescued by a real estate developer, who is provided the group with a new -- and larger -- home on Park Avenue South for a token fee of $1.00 a year under a five-year lease. As reported by today's (Thursday) New York Times, developer Charles S. Cohen, a film afionado who has produced, written and directed movies himself, is providing almost 3,600 square feet of office space to the Film-Makers' Cooperative, which archives, distributes and restores experimental and avant-garde movies. One of the group's founders, Jonas Mekas, told the newspaper that it was "amazing that there are still people like Cohen in this world." Executive Director M.M. Serra noted that the group's films, "some of which are one of a kind, will be in air-conditioning specifically designed to protect them, which we don't have where we are now." The facility will also include a 15-seat screening room for those wishing to research the 5,000 films in the group's archives. Bye ...
