September 23, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dawn Newell (310) 247-3000
                     dnewell@oscars.org

Composer David Raksin to Speak at Orphan Film Symposium as Academy Visiting Artist

Beverly Hills, CA - Academy Award^®-nominated composer David Raksin will address the topic of film music preservation at the Third Orphan Film Symposium at the University of South Carolina on September 25. Raksin's appearance is sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Visiting Artists Program.

Raksin received Academy Award nominations in the Original Music Score category for the films "Forever Amber" (1947) and "Separate Tables" (1958). His other film credits include "Glass Houses" (1972), "Sylvia" (1962), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and "Laura" (1944). Raksin is a member of the Academy's Music Branch.

The Third Orphan Film Symposium will be presented by the University of South Carolina and will include presentations, screenings and seminars to discuss "orphan" films, which are films such as educational movies, newsreels and independent documentaries that enjoy little commercial incentive for their preservation. Raksin will speak at a session titled "Listening to Orphan Films: Sound, Music, Voice."

The Visiting Artists Program was instituted by the Academy in 1970 to provide a link between the academic study of film and filmmaking and the men and women who make movies. Through the program, members of the Academy's various branches share their expertise in classrooms, festivals, conferences and other film-related events.