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Revenge of Dakota: a restored scene from "The Trail to Yesterday" (1918)

Bart Santello
Edwin Carewe
United States, 2023, 10 min.

In Silent with English subtitles.
This film is family friendly.

AIFF Award Winner:
Jury Award for Creative Achievement

In the heyday of the silent era of film, Metro Pictures Studio came to Arivaca, Arizona and filmed a feature-length western melodrama - The Trail to Yesterday. It was released in 1918, then disappeared. One hundred years later the last surviving nitrate copy was discovered at a film archive in Amsterdam. Act 3, Revenge of Dakota, is a 10-minute scene digitally restored and produced from the original nitrate film and will be presented as a ‘work-in-progress’ towards the future completion of this feature-length studio film from that era.

Director's Statement

What could be more exciting than to find a lost studio film from the silent era, then discover that the movie was filmed in the town where you live. For the community, the state of Arizona and film history, it’s both an honor and an unique opportunity to work on this restoration project. Bart Santello is an Arizona-based experimental filmmaker, photographer and film restoration artist.

Category: Western, Arizona Film, Award Winner.

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