Welcome to Burnt Nitrate.
A place to analyze films that are lesser-known and lesser-discussed.
It is estimated that 90% of American films made before 1929 have been lost to time forever. When expanded to films from all across the world, that share is still at a staggering 75%. Nitrate film, the stock used to shoot everything from epics to two-minute shorts, was incredibly flammable. Vaults used to store them all caught fire easily, quickly, and often, their negatives lost forever to time.
Sometimes, occasionally, single strips are found decades later. Decayed and deteriorated, in janitor’s closets, sheds in a backyard, maybe even in the depths of a salt mine. Films that showed emotional heights that works before or since couldn’t match. Visual effects that still could leave you spellbound even today. If they hadn’t been found again, nobody would have ever known about them.
There is so much film out there in the world that is the best of the medium that people either don’t know about or aren’t willing to talk about. This publication will be something of a home for those kinds of films. No superhero films, no oscar bait, no desperate attempts to keep up with movies that just came out or writing about old household names.
The hope is that this Substack will inform you about films from the birth of narrative to the edge of now. Films that you’ve never heard about before or never seen before, and will encourage you to see them or think about them from a new perspective.
Looking forward to seeing you all there.