Abstract: This essay provides an introduction to the discipline of “orphan cinema” as an outgrowth of the work of moving image achivists, ideological film analysis, and experimental filmmakers. The contradictory relationship between nontheatrical film, academic film scholarship, and Hollywood film production is briefly reviewed. Finally, the article introduces the “institutional film” as a central theme in the nontheatrical film genre analyzed throughout the special “Orphans No More” issue of the Journal of Popular Film and Television.
Whatever Floats Your Boat Productions 