National Center for Film and Video Preservation explained

The National Center for Film and Video Preservation was established in 1984 by the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts to^[1]

• coordinate American moving image preservation activities on a national scale serving as Secretariat for the Association of Moving Image Archivists and The Film Foundation.
• implement the National Moving Image Database.
• research and publish the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
• locate and acquire films and television programs for inclusion in the AFI Collection to be preserved at the Library of Congress and other archives.
• establish ongoing relationships between the public archives and the film and television industry.
• create broader public awareness of preservation needs.

The center has a list of wanted films believed to be lost. Some of the films on that list are^[2]

• Cleopatra (1917)
• The Divine Woman (1928)
• Camille (1927)

See also

• List of lost films
• List of incomplete or partially lost films

References

1. http://www.afi.com/tvevents/laa/Scorsese/61-70/63/63a.html One of the reasons why Scorsese chose to shoot RAGING BULL in black and white was that he was concerned with contemporary Eastman color stock fading
2. Kara Glover. "MCA/Universal continues the trend among Hollywood studios for restoring old movies." Los Angeles Business Journal, 1 October 1990. Retrieved 14 March 2009.