10 Lost Movies And The Absurd Places They Turned Up

5. Wake In Fright - Shipping Container 'For Destruction'

Wake In Fright It's depressing to think that a film released as recently as 1971, one which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to wide acclaim no less, was not properly preserved, with the only known print of the controversial Australian classic being situated in Dublin, though was considered to be of too shoddy quality to be transferred to the home video markets. Anthony Buckley, who edited the film, decided to try and track down a workable print of the film in 1994, and it was a further decade before he found one, all the way in Pittsburgh. Where specifically was it found? In a shipping container bearing a label "For destruction", a shocking if also hilarious statement on just how poor film preservation is even with films as recent as the 1970s. The new print allowed it to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009, and quite aptly, it was also re-screened at the Cannes Film Festival to wide acclaim once again (being one of only two films to ever be screened twice at the fest).
Contributor
Contributor

Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.