Local historian Michael Zahs prepares to speak at the Brinton Extravaganza held this spring at the State Theater. Photo by Sally Y. Hart

Some of the oldest films in the world are those found in the Brinton Collection and they were recently presented at a film festival in Italy by local historian Michael Zahs. The Brinton Collection is made of films and magic lantern slides that belonged to Frank and Indiana Brinton who lived in Washington at the turn of the 19th century. The couple traveled and showed the films to crowds. Zahs was a featured presenter and with the help of a translator showed films to a crowd of thousands in Bologna, Italy.

A selection from the Brinton Collection will be shown at the Ainsworth Brinton Film Festival the last weekend in July at the Ainsworth Opera House. Zahs discovered and saved the films from a local basement 30 years ago, just days after he and his wife were married.