As any writer or photographer knows, it is essential to back up your computer so that if disaster strikes your life’s work is not destroyed. But what happens if not only your computer but also your back-up system comes a cropper?
Francis Ford Coppola, five-time Oscar-winning director of the Godfather trilogy and other films, knows how that feels. On Friday he lamented the fact that he had lost computer data including his writings and family photographs going back 15 years in a robbery on his Argentine studios.
He had backed up all the material, but the robbers also stole the small reserve memory that was lying on the floor of the studio.
”If someone could bring me back my back-up, I’d be very happy,” Coppola said.
Speaking to the Argentine news agency Todo Noticias he said the lost material held ”all of the photographs of my life, all of my writing”. The return of the back-up, which he described as ”just a little thing” would ”save me years”.
Particularly painful is likely to be the loss of the script of his next film, Tetro, a tale of Italian immigrant artists, starring Matt Dillon, and due to begin shooting next year. The narrative is thought to be partly based on Coppola’s life.
At least five armed people were thought to have been involved in the raid on the offices in Buenos Aires on Wednesday night. The director was not there at the time, but has said he may now move to a more secure neighbourhood. – Guardian Unlimited Â