B-Side founder and CEO Chris Hyams was in Cannes this afternoon to support director/producer Martin Scorsese’s announcement of partnerships and plans designed to further the work of the World Cinema Foundation (WCF). B-Side, along with The Auteurs and Criterion, will help the WCF distribute its restored films to the public. The films that the WCF restores every year will now have their festival premiere in Cannes and then begin their tour to the public via a network of other festivals and museum exhibitions. During the museum tour of the restored 35mm prints, the films will also now be made available digitally for the first time through The Auteurs. Shortly after, the films will roll out through the partnership with B-Side to universities and film clubs, and also will reach film lovers at home through B-Side’s relationships with platforms such as Netflix and iTunes. Ultimately, the films will be made available on DVD in collectors’ box sets through a partnership with the Criterion Collection, who will also select a few titles each year to distribute as individual special-edition releases.

Needless to say we are extremely excited about this new partnership and we’ll be bringing you the latest on these films as they roll out.

Read the official press release.

Watch the press conference.

Additional coverage at indieWIRE.