The Nuclear Bunker Preserving Movie History

America's movie and film archive is located in an underground bunker in Culpepper, Virginia. The bunker was originally a gold storage unit that doubled as a fallout shelter for the U.S. president and his cabinet during the Cold War. Today, the Library of Congress stores all manner of film here. Archivist George Willeman is in charge of the nitrate vaults, where fragile (and combustible) old films sit undisturbed and well preserved.

This Great Big Story was co-developed with TIFF.

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[gentikvevo]

I saw Princess Mononoke, keep that one safe mates.

[braselton]

0:53 "Justin Bieber: never say never." I say let them nuke that one. Just set it outside to save us from utter embarrassment.

[finnthpjac]

Another "I'm glad someone is doing this" moment

[mlw]

Fascinating! He is living his dream and at the same time, playing a huge role in preserving history! Very cool!

[TimTams_]

You didn't need to keep all the Adam Sandler films.

[ElgrimTheElder]

This guy is awesome. How can I get this job? Is he talking internships?

[dismal]

I drive by this place all the time! On the outside it looks all overgrown and pretty cool. Although I have not been inside, I know that sometimes they play a few films, and people can come in and watch, for free! :)

[thebrainscoop]

What a phenomenal clip! I wish I could visit. How many of these have been digitized?

[eliot]

But do they have cool cat saves the kids

[democracy_is_truth]

preserving Americas film/cultural history seems like it would be an exciting job seeing as you have over a century's worth of it in your hands.

[abmnq]

I love this channel it's so underrated

[EmilyCheng]

I could spend my days in that place just watching movies. That's how much movies make me happy! 😊 Great video, very well made.

[hornybastard]

"It's goal is to ensure the survival and the conversation of our nation's films."
0:52 "JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER."
And why would you want to ensure the survival of THAT?!

[antech]

when the government asked for star wars, george lucas said he forgot where they were, and now the original star wars film is gone forever

[cameron]

0:49 Am I the only one who thought it was Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie. C'mon they gotta have it.

[BjarkeDK]

keep the ghibli films extra secure please

[imactuallykools]

Oh boy, so glad for people in the future to wonder why Fred the movie exists

[wotan]

essential vital work, preserving our past, our memories....I hope this extends into Television history too. Despite the mediums bad rep there are nuggets worth preserving. The corny early 50's TV commercials included, the classic cartoons like Bugs Bunny, etc. I also read that data made from about 1980 - 2000 was made on a material that withers rapidly and will soon be gone, or something like that. Hope all the good stuff is kept safe.

[webhobo]

Did anyone else hear that creepy breathing closer to the end during the shot of him watching an old movie?

[joshgarrison]

In special cases, you can actually hold the original Star Wars film reel from the first movie.