About the Films:
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sp\;
Canterville Ghost\, 1988 20 min. \;
In this an
imated version of an Oscar Wilde story\, an American family buys a haunted
house in England. The children terrorize the ghost until the daughter fin
ds out why the ghost is unhappy. \;
The Happy PRince\
, 1974 25 min. \;
A golden statue and a swallow sacrifice themsel
ves to save the poor people of a town. An animated version of the story by
Oscar Wilde. \;
Selfish Giant\, 1972 27 min. \;<
br />When a giant chases children from his garden\, and surrounds it with
a wall\, Winter moves in year round. When the giant realizes what his self
ishness mean\, he invites the children back in. Animated \; from the s
tory by Oscar Wilde. \;
\; \;
Nightingale and t
he Rose\, 10 min. \;
Uses minimal animation on figures and d
esigns from the art of Aubrey Beardsley to recreate the Oscar Wilde fairy
tale about a nightingale who dies in aid of a lovesick student to obtain a
red rose. \;
\;
Salome\, 1922 36 min. \;<
br />A pantomime after the play by Oscar Wilde. \;
Alla Nazimova
stars in this stylized film derived from Wilde's play\, with sets based on
drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Silent\, directed by Charles Bryant. \;
\;
\;
About the Film Collection
\; \;
The Miami-Dade Public Library holds one of the remaini
ng\, circulating 16mm film collections. The collection dates back to 1956
and was developed to be a teaching collection designed to be used for publ
ic programming. Its holdings include acclaimed feature films such as Rasho
mon (1950)\, Alphaville (1965)\, The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)\, Pando
ra&rsquo\;s Box (1928)\, and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). However\, what
makes this collection special is the wide array of short films\, ranging f
rom experimental created by notable artists like Len Lye\, Luis Bunel\, Ho
mer Groening\, Kenneth Anger\, Sergei Eisenstein\, John Whitney to the edu
cational produced by the likes of Pyramid Films\, Xerox\, McGraw Hill\, an
d National Film Board of Canada. \; \; \; \; \;
U
nique to the collection are Florida specific titles like Enchanted (1982)\
, Metropolis in the Sun (1989)\, The Everglades (1970)\, A Hurricane Named
Betsy (1965)\, Miccosukee Indian Friends (1975)\, Salesman (1969)\, and m
ore. \; \;
The library&rsquo\;s films are available to be che
cked out for a period of 2 weeks to Miami-Dade Public Library cardholders.
\; The library does not circulate equipment and projectors &ndash\; p
atrons will need to have their own. Patrons can also access the films on-s
ite at the library through a research visit scheduled with the Special Col
lections department. \; \; \;
About the Division of Speci
al Collections &\; Archives \; \;
Miami-Dade Public Librar
y System&rsquo\;s Division of Special Collections &\; Archives holds ra
re and irreplaceable historical documents for the benefit of the public an
d scholarly community. They oversee the Helen Muir Florida Collection\, 16
mm Film Collection\, Cuban Collection of Rare Books &\; Ephemera\, Gene
alogy Collection\, Vasari Project\, and rare &\; antiquarian books from
as early as the 17th century. The Division's primary goal is to provide t
he public with the contents of the vault at their request. Its collections
include rare books\, original manuscripts\, over 18\,000 photographs\, pr
ints\, artifacts\, audiovisual resources\, and electronic media. \;