[3] In 1990, Scorsese created The Film Foundation together with Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg, who all sat on the foundation's original board of directors.

[7] The foundation has been called "the leading organization devoted to fundraising, increasing awareness of preservation, and issuing grants to safeguard this country's cinematic heritage.

It also helps students place films in a historical context, using them as a springboard for conversations about social issues.

[13] The Film Foundation, UNESCO, and the Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes jointly run The African Film Heritage Project, which preserves culturally significant movies made in Africa and allows Africans to see those movies, as many of them received only limited distribution on their home continent.

Screenings will run on the second Monday of each month and feature introductions and post-screening conversations about the importance of the films.