Argentina discovers missing portions of "Metropolis" -- an
acclaimed 1927 science fiction film made in Germany. The approximately 15
minutes were thought to be lost and were recently found in Buenos Aires. 

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JULY 3, 2008) REUTERS - 
Film historians had doubted they would ever find the missing
portions of "Metropolis" -- until three reels of the science fiction
film made in Germany a long time ago were discovered on the opposite
hemisphere, in Argentina.
    Two film fans in Argentina uncovered the fragile footage in a small
museum earlier this year -- more than eight decades after Fritz Lang's
dystopian classic first began to shed scenes.
    The Argentinean Ministry of Culture and the Buenos Aires Film Museum,
where the film was found, held a news conference on Thursday (July 03) in
Buenos Aires and projected some 15 minutes of the film for the local and
international media.  
    "Metropolis," which depicts a tumultuous class struggle in a
vast, urban society, was the first film to be entered into UNESCO's Memory of
the World Register -- which aims to preserve cultural achievements of
outstanding significance.
    Released in 1927, set a century later, the silent film was not a
commercial success and nearly ruined the studio behind it. According to some
estimates, it still ranks as one of the most expensive movies ever made once
inflation is factored in.
    Soon after its premiere, the movie was heavily cut to make it more
accessible, and several new versions emerged. A series of efforts were made to
restore the film over the years but roughly a quarter of it was believed to be
lost.
    However, there were those in Argentina who knew better.
    According to the magazine of German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, Buenos
Aires film distributor Adolfo Z. Wilson acquired a long version of
"Metropolis" in 1928 which survived as a copy, and finally ended up
in the archive of a local film museum.
    Having heard talk of the Wilson reels, a couple of cinema aficionados
-- one of whom had just taken charge of the archive -- discovered the
canisters containing them earlier this year and brought a DVD of the contents
to Germany for analysis.
    The director of the Buenos Aires Film Museum, Paula Felix-Didier, said
the film was a copy of the original version but the footage was damaged and
added that Argentina did not have the required technology to restore the
valuable film material. 
    With its cold, monumental vision of mechanized society,
"Metropolis" forged a template for generations of science fiction
cinema, and its enduring influence has been cited on films from "Blade
Runner" to "Fahrenheit 451" and "Star Wars." 
    Helmut Possmann, head of the foundation which owns the rights to the
film, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, told Reuters that they were
overjoyed when they heard about the find and said the experts had no doubts
about the authenticity of the reels.
    Felix-Didier added that the film would not leave the museum until
Buenos Aires city government completed a proper negotiation with
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.
    "The tapes have not left the Museum (Film), the film has not left
the Museum, nor it will leave until Buenos Aires city government does not
complete the corresponding negotiation," she said.