American Silent Films Repatriated, Thanks To Russia

Unfortunately, only about 20 percent of all movies shot during the silent era have been preserved in America. 80% are lost to history -- but occasionally, some show up in archives around the world.

This recently happened in a Russian archive, and the found films were returned to America. The Library of Congress has just received 10 long-lost films preserved by archivists at Russia's Gosfilmofond institute.

"American movies were, in fact, distributed in Russia and the former Soviet Union regularly from around 1910 right up to the outbreak of World War II," said Patrick Loughney, who is in charge of the Library of Congress' Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, where he will be taking care of the returned films.

There is apparently more to come. The Russian archivists are planning to return about 200 historical films in total.