Bill Pence (1940-2022)

Each September, we at Dartmouth are fortunate to be able to view a selection of films on prerelease that were screened earlier in the month at the Telluride Film Festival. This opportunity is due to the vision, dedication, and intrepid work of the late Bill Pence, who regrettably passed away after a long illness on December 6, 2022, at the age of 82.

Mr. Pence grew up in Minneapolis, where, in his youth, he worked in the city’s movie theaters. It was there that his love for film began. While in college at what is now Carnegie Mellon University, he formed and led a student film society. He went on to serve in the Air Force and lived in France for a year. While there, he realized that the version of the classic film King Kong (1933) being screened in France was different from the version commonly exhibited in the U.S. He concluded correctly that American audiences were viewing a version of the film that had been censored and cut. He subsequently purchased a print of the French version and brought it back to the U.S. From his copy of the film, the distribution company Janus Films proceeded to make new 35mm prints for distribution to colleges and art house theaters across the country.

Mr. Pence owned art and commercial theaters in Colorado from 1965 until the 1980s. Importantly, Mr. Pence also established the company Film Arts Enterprises in 1961, through which he distributed foreign and art films to small colleges. Moreover, he served as Vice President of Janus Films from 1965- 1978. At Janus, he successfully built a library of foreign and classic films that would later serve as the foundation for The Criterion Collection, the celebrated home-video distribution company.

He is, of course, best known for having co-founded the influential Telluride Film Festival in 1974 alongside his wife, Stella, film historian James Card, and film archivist Tom Luddy. He served for thirty-three years as Co-Director/President of the Festival’s producing entity, National Film Preserve, Ltd.

Mr. Pence came to Dartmouth in 1983 as the first Director of Film at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. He programmed all film screenings at the College, led the Dartmouth Film Society, and even programmed screenings at the Nugget Theater. It was through his considerable influence that Dartmouth’s long- standing relationship with the Telluride Film Festival was established. He also founded the Dartmouth Film Award, under the auspices of which prominent figures in the film industry may be brought to Hanover. Above all, Mr. Pence was committed to inspiring the younger generations to enjoy and take an interest in film, whether they were studying film or not. He retired in 2016 after thirty-three years of important and influential service to the College and its students.