A seminal 20-year-old film about graphic communication and its influence on civilisation has been updated to reflect changes in technology.

It’s a big ask, but much of ‘Harvest of Wisdom’ comes in the form of an illustrated lecture, created by US printing industry visionary and scholar Nolan Moore a year before his death in 1995.

Now a joint effort by the Nolan Moore Memorial Education Foundation and the graphic communication institute at Cal Poly has remade the second half of the hour-long film.

The update is led by Jerry Waite and Phil Snyder of the University of Houston along with Harvey Levenson of CalPoly’s graphic communication institute –through the support of the Nolan Moore Memorial Education Foundation created by PIA MidAmerica after Moore’s death – and is now available online.

Levenson says that despite its age, the film has stood the test of time. Moore intended it to be used in classrooms, and demonstrate how written communication and print affected civilisation and the dissemination of knowledge. “Indeed, the film is a statement on the relevance of print throughout the ages and the important and continuing accomplishments of the printing industry.

“This is an educational documentary for people of all ages and backgrounds,” he says. “It clearly demonstrates how graphic communication, with its technology undergirding, falls within the realm of the liberal arts. It is about history and civilisation, culture and values, communication and language knowledge and learning, writing and literacy, democracy and freedom, invention and technology, advances in digital imaging, evolution and genesis.

“It is a statement that all interested in or involved in graphic communication should view – students, employees, managers, practitioners, technology developers, and so on. The movie instills pride in one of the most important industries that has shaped civilisation – the printing industry.”

The Foundation aims to partner other organisations and media to bring the updated film to the broadest audience posssible.