🇺🇸 Happy Fourth of July! This year marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 📸 Step back in time with historic photographs of Independence Day celebrations from UCLA Library Special Collections.

Poolside with the stars of 1930s Hollywood ☀️🍹 These home movies offer candid moments with some of the most prominent figures in Hollywood, including Merle Oberon, David Niven, Norma Shearer, Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich and others: youtu.be/rwDshqcXCqY

“World Soccer Cup Tournament” (1966) All roads lead to Wembley Stadium for the opening of one of the top sports classics. Queen Elizabeth greets players in the first match, representing England and Uruguay. Explore more newsreels courtesy of the Archive & Packard Humanities Institute: newsreels.net

On this day in 1970, LGBTQ+ activists organized the first gay pride parade in the Los Angeles area, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Filmmaker and activist Pat Rocco documented the event — watch footage on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/zqydolQAv3U

At the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Archive Director May Hong HaDuong received the Vittorio Boarini Award, presented to figures who have “distinguished themselves in the preservation and dissemination of cinematographic heritage.” Congrats, May! 🎉 ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/insights/...

The Archive’s public programs are taking a summer intermission 🎬 After July 12, our screenings will be on pause until early Oct., when we’ll be back with an exciting lineup of programs and special guests. In the meantime, we hope that you’ll check out our upcoming screenings! cinema.ucla.edu/events

65 years ago, the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a chief logistical architect of the Holocaust, was among the first in history to be internationally televised. On our blog, UCLA MLIS graduate Noah Brockman examines footage of the trial in our collection, viewable online: cinema.ucla.edu/blog/picture...

Congratulations to UCLA Library's graduating student workers and staff from UCLA’s class of 2026! 🎓✨ From supporting collections and services to helping keep Library spaces running smoothly, these students have made meaningful contributions to the UCLA community. 🐻💙 ucla.in/4dXGhxb

⚽ With the 2026 FIFA World Cup underway and Team USA set to play in L.A. tomorrow, we're looking back at a piece of soccer history in the UCLA University Archives. Former UCLA soccer player Paul Caligiuri represented the United States in the 1986 FIFA World Cup All-Star Game 📸

Calling composers: Applications for Resonate 2026 close June 15. Open to all ages, nationalities, and career stages. Three $1,000 prizes, live premiere performances, and professional recordings. No application fee. Apply: go.library.ucla.edu/resonate

UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema Sunday, June 14, 3 p.m. 📽 Cinema-ye Azad: Behnam Jafari This screening highlights the 1970s short and feature-length films of Behnam Jafari, a key figure of the Cinema-ye Azad (Free Cinema) independent film movement. Q&A with curators. Register: ucla.in/4usSajI

Cinema-ye Azad (Free Cinema) was an underground film movement in Iran, founded in 1969 by Basir Nasibi as a critical response to the commercial and state‑controlled film industry. On our blog, researcher Hadi Alipanah discusses this history: cinema.ucla.edu/blog/cinema-ye-azad-movement-in-iran

Fri June 12: Black Rabbit, White Rabbit (2025) On a film set, the crew’s armorer worries that a prop gun may not be what it seems and a mysterious woman arrives to demand an audition. Meanwhile, a woman recovering from a car accident discovers she may be the target of a murder plot: ucla.in/4agpymp

We’re delighted to welcome image maker, creative director and educator Nesanet Teshager Abegaze as the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s 2026 artist-in-residence! Her proposed film project will explore relationships between homeland, diasporic populations and generations: ucla.in/4uLeB4x

📼 Funded by the UCLA Library Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP), the Digital Archive of the Indigenous Languages of the Amazon (ARDILIA) works to preserve and revitalize the rich oral cultural heritage of the Murui, Magütá and Miraña peoples of the Colombian Amazon: ucla.in/4d82Miw #IAW2026

UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema Sun. June 7: Between Dreams and Hope (2025), The Great Yawn of History (2024) Azad, a trans man, longs to start a life with his lover but must confront his estranged father. Next, an eccentric job interview leads to a quest in the desert for gold. ucla.in/4vww8xu

UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema Jun 6: Inside Amir (2025), Divine Comedy (2025) After his girlfriend emigrates to Italy, a bike messenger spends his days with friends who have settled into a life of drift. Next, a director seeks to have his film shown in Iran, dodging authorities ucla.in/4x17V3N

Happy 100th to Marilyn Monroe, one of the most captivating stars to ever light up the screen 🎂💖 Here is silent newsreel footage of Monroe in NYC for the filming of The Seven Year Itch. Explore thousands of newsreels online courtesy of the Archive and The Packard Humanities Institute: newsreels.net

⭐ Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) was born in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926. Today marks the 100th anniversary of her birth. Swipe to see photos of the Hollywood icon from UCLA Library Special Collections 🎞 📸

The Computer-Laser-Videos of Raphael Montañez Ortiz Sat. May 30, 10:55 p.m. A key figure in the Destruction in Art movement, Ortiz made over 50 “computer-laser-videos,” distorting movie excerpts using computers, laserdiscs and videotape. Join us for four preserved works. Free! ucla.in/4eV6CNf

Si muero antes de despertar (If I Should Die Before I Wake, 1952) Sat. May 30, 9:25 p.m. A complex father-son relationship and the disappearance of several children are at the center of this Argentine film noir by dir. Carlos Hugo Christensen. Guest: @eddiemuller.bsky.social Free! ucla.in/49DWbdq

“Merrily We Live” (1938) will be preceded by the Fleischer cartoon “Way Back When a Triangle Had Its Points” (1940) + Terrytoons’ “The Nutty Network” (1939) 🎨 Both newly restored by the Archive with funding from @asifahollywood.bsky.social. Sat. May 30, 4:10 p.m. ucla.in/4wwAtSn

World premiere of new restoration! 📽 “Merrily We Live” (1938) Sat. May 30, 4:10 p.m. In this zany screwball comedy starring Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne, a novelist and ladies’ man finds himself hired as a chauffeur for a wealthy, eccentric family. Free! ucla.in/4wwAtSn

“the heart of the matter” (1994) Sat. May 30, 2:30 p.m. New restoration! Shot on 16mm by a women-led crew, “the heart of the matter” is a tender portrait of AIDS activist Janice Jirau and a landmark in feminist documentary history. Q&A with co-director Gini Reticker Free! ucla.in/4eOcUhO

“Lorna Doone” (1922) Sat. May 30, 11:55 a.m. Restoration world premiere! Maurice Tourneur’s visually and dramatically accomplished silent film is a drama of love and revenge set amid the picturesque landscapes of Exmoor, England. Screening at the UCLA Festival of Preservation Free! ucla.in/4uM1LCS

Before & after the restoration of “Adventures of Casanova” (1948) ⚔️ Join us Sat. May 30, 10 a.m. for its West Coast premiere at the UCLA Festival of Preservation! Directed by Roberto Gavaldón, starring Arturo de Córdova: cinema.ucla.edu/events/adventures-of-casanova-2026-05-30/ youtu.be/VssFtkM758k

Back to @uclalibrary.bsky.social Special Collections today and they had some Bonnie Cashin boxes out. Reader, it smelled like a Coach store in there!

Hosted by comedian Redd Foxx, “…& Beautiful” (1969) was a groundbreaking music-variety special that offered a rare primetime showcase foregrounding Black excellence and pride. Join us for a screening at the opening night of the UCLA Festival of Preservation! Friday 5/29, 10:15 p.m. ucla.in/4tVov37

Field trip to @uclalibrary.bsky.social Special Collections with my History of Couture students:

Before and after restoration of “Black Girl” (dir. Ossie Davis, 1972) ✨ Join us May 29 for the West Coast restoration premiere of “Black Girl” at the opening night of the UCLA Festival of Preservation — with writer J. E. Franklin in person! cinema.ucla.edu/series/2026-... youtu.be/o6Nfq9Ekbfw

📽️ UCLA Library Preservation & Conservation’s Audiovisual Survey team has now documented over 100,000 audiovisual items, building a comprehensive inventory of physical assets across UCLA Library Special Collections. Read about the process: ucla.in/4tKpvH8

📚 Nicole Alvarado, book and paper conservator at UCLA Library, has treated damaged books from the Tule Lake Japanese Language Library Collection. Many were repaired with limited materials during World War II. Today, those repairs are preserved as part of each book’s history: ucla.in/4cKSMue

🐻📚 Final hours of Bruin Giving Day! Support UCLA Library before 9 p.m. 💙 ucla.in/4mRxMX8

Join UCLA Library every Monday from May 4 to July 27, to learn about the historical context and cultural significance of Ming manuscript and book materials. Learn more and RSVP: go.library.ucla.edu/mingseries

6/5–21: UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema The Archive is honored to present its annual survey of films from Iran and the Iranian diaspora. The light of Iranian cinema will once again cut through the darkness to reveal stories of struggle, resilience & hope on-screen: cinema.ucla.edu/series/ucla-...

📚🐛 What’s eating your books? It’s Preservation Week, and UCLA Library Preservation & Conservation staff are sharing how we identify common collection pests and spot early signs of damage. From silverfish to beetles, learn more: ucla.in/423gpt1

The UCLA Film & Television Archive @uclaftvarchive.bsky.social, a unit of UCLA Library, will present the 22nd edition of its biennial UCLA Festival of Preservation, running Friday, May 29 to Sunday, May 31 at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum. Full festival schedule: ucla.in/4vHiZ5q

Join UCLA Library for a screening of “Ojalá Supieras” (I Wish You Knew), a documentary which explores the long-suppressed history of Islam in colonial Mexico. The screening will feature a Q&A with director Mariam Saada and a curated display of UCLA Library holdings. To RSVP, visit: ucla.in/3O36Y9J

📚 UCLA Library wouldn’t be what it is without our incredible employees! To our team and library workers everywhere, thank you for all that you do 💙👥 #NLWD26

“Coming to America” (1988) Mon. Apr. 20, 7:30 p.m. Eddie Murphy stars as Prince Akeem, heir to the throne of Zamunda, who leaves royal luxury for Queens, New York, in search of love on his own terms. Q&A with “The Black Pack” author Artel Great and cast member Eriq La Salle Free! ucla.in/4tebZvl

“In Living Color” (4 episodes) Sunday 4/19, 7 p.m. Created by Keenen Ivory Wayans, the sketch comedy show “In Living Color” (1990–4) uproariously harnessed satire and spectacle to explore issues of race, class and celebrity. In person: Artel Great, author of “The Black Pack.” Free! ucla.in/4ekEmTQ

“Singin’ in the Rain” (1952) Sunday, Apr. 12, 11 a.m. 35mm! In this classic musical, a silent movie star (Gene Kelly) tries to make the leap to talkies, while a chorus girl (Debbie Reynolds) finds her entry into Hollywood no less complicated. Co-presented by @hammer.ucla.edu Free! ucla.in/4dzlhNs

4/12: Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive! (1976) Director in person Considered the 1st Chicano feature, Efraín Gutiérrez’s film offers a look at ’70s South Texas Chicano culture. Its character questions his place in a society that undervalues Latinos, many of whom had been killed in Vietnam ucla.in/4smfA9s

Thank you to L.A. Times Staff Writer Mark Olsen for featuring our film series “The Black Pack: Rewriting American Comedy,” which begins tonight! Details: ucla.in/3PlgjK9 www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

The Hearst Metrotone News Collection and the Spanish Civil War Friday, Apr. 10, 7:30 Marking the 90th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, Silvia Ribelles de la Vega, a historian at The Packard Humanities Institute, will give a talk featuring rarely seen footage of the war. Free! ucla.in/4mdE4QS

“All the tract of land included within the limits of the Pueblo de Los Angeles as heretofore known and acknowledged, shall henceforth be known as the City of Los Angeles.” @uclalibrary.bsky.social: digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog?f%5B...

Mon. April 20: UCLA Library and Project STAND present Student Activism: A Reckoning in the Archives, with an opening keynote from Robin D.G. Kelley, author of “Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination” and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA. RSVP: ucla.in/4c2jiio

“Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil?” Robert Mitchum stars in “The Night of the Hunter” (1955), director Charles Laughton’s classic Southern Gothic thriller, screening Sunday, Apr. 5, 7 p.m. 35mm! 🎞️ Free: ucla.in/4bX88eJ

“Hollywood Shuffle” (1987) — 35mm! Fri 4/3, 7:30 p.m. In his razor-sharp satire, Robert Townsend stars as an actor pressured to fit an “Eddie Murphy type” while auditioning for a Blaxploitation knockoff. In person: author Artel Great, actor Anne-Marie Johnson, Spring Mooney Free! ucla.in/4179w9B

On our blog, UCLA M.L.I.S. graduate Christina Scholze highlights the rich history of the UCLA Animation Workshop, which has been teaching students the art and craft of animation since the late 1940s. 13 animated student films from our collection are newly available online 🎨 ucla.in/4dLvqqm