Author: Giada Sartori

Initiatives by ACE members during the second lockdown

Back in March film archives from all over Europe closed their door because of the pandemic but continued to offer a digital program to stay connected with audiences at home. The second wave of the virus in the winter months has brought to a second lockdown and ACE members are once again serving as a strong reminder of the importance of cinema. This article offers a rundown of what ACE members from all over Europe are offering right now:

  • Cinematek highlights its collection treasures available on Youtube. Check out the dedicated playlist.
  • Cinémathèque Suisse is pleased to offer its audience four feature films until January 24th. In the program: La Vocation d’André Carel (Jean Choux, 1924), Quatre d’entre elles (Claude Champion, Francis Reusser, Jacques Sandoz and Yves Yersin, 1968), Maine Océan (Jacques Rozier, 1968), Go Go Tales (2007, Abel Ferrara). From January 6th, this offer will be completed by two documentaries: Jour de marché (2002, Jacqueline Veuve) and Imatra (2007, Corso Salani). Click here for more information.
  • Cineteca di Bologna is bringing the Cinema Ritrovato experience in everyone’s home with Cinema Ritrovato | Fuori Sala. Every 30 days a whole new program with at least 15 films available to watch on streaming on the MYmovies website for just 15 euros. Every movie will be presented by critics, directors and witnesses in its best version and silent films will be accompanied by a curated soundtrack. Click here for more information.
  • Deutsche Kinemathek is offering access to online exhibitions (with themed tours) and their digital collection. Click here for more information.
  • Deutsches Filminstitut Filmmuseum offers the digital program accompanying the current special exhibition The Sound of Disney. 1928-1967, that gives the audience an opportunity to study the world of sound in Disney movies online. Click here for more information.
  • Film Archiv Austria is offering an online retrospective dedicated to Hans Moser, the epitome of Viennese humor. It will be available until January 14th. Click here for more information.
  • Filmmuseum München offers an online program with restorations by the Filmmuseum as well as retrospectives by filmmakers such as Werner Schroeter. Click here for more information.
  • Cinémathèque de Toulouse offers a chance to watch some unknown animated feature films. Visit the Cinémathèque’s website to discover more.
  • Lichtspiel Bern, after a successful advent calendar, continues to offer its digital program. Visit its Vimeo page for more information.
  • Tainiothiki tis Ellados offers an online festive program running until January 10th. Click here to find out more.

 

 

ViCTOR-E Virtual Event at the Visibile Evidence Conference

As the Annual Visible Evidence Conference got postponed to late 2021 the organisers scheduled a smaller virtual event instead as a “teaser” to the actual conference.

Among other presentation the virtual event also hosts a joint presentation of the international research project “ViCTOR-E – Visual Culture of Trauma, Obliteration and Reconstruction in Post-WW II Europe” in which ACE is acts as associated partner. ViCTOR-E is part of the HERA research programme “Public Spaces: Culture and Integration in Europe”. The virtual presentation  on Friday, December 18th , at 18:30 CET titled “Accessing the Visual Archives of Post War Europe: Trauma, Obliteration and Reconstruction” addresses the major shift in the accessibility of the European (documentary) film heritage and the resulting challenges for archival research projects such as ViCTOR-E and gives a first inside into the research results of the project.

VICTOR-E is a collaborative research project of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Università degli Studi di Udine (Italy), Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Czech Republic), and Université Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne (France), in cooperation with the Deutsches Filminstitut und Filmmuseum (Frankfurt), the Centre National de la Cinématographie (Paris), the National Film Archive (Prague), the Archivio Nazionale Cinema Impresa (Ivrea), and the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE).

The project explores non-fiction films about the rebuilding of local, national and transnational communities across Europe in the period from 1945-1956 and investigates the question how audiovisual representations of public spaces – and particularly the documentation of war damage and of reconstruction efforts –, have shaped the politics, policies and polities of post-WW II Europe.

Click here for more info about the event and how to register for the Zoom panel.

Click here to learn more about the HERA-project ViCTOR-E.

The online retrospectives of Filmarchiv Austria

Ever since the first lockdown, the Filmarchiv Austria responded with the offer of a curated online program. A concept with a future, as it turned out, because the digital Home theater has meanwhile established itself as an opportunity for broad access to Austria’s film heritage and has since regularly accompanied the retrospectives shown in the METRO Kinokulturhaus.

There are still a few days left to watch the retrospective celebrating the 25 years of Amour Fou, available free of charge. The production company, while being relatively young, has a portfolio of over 100 works (as of September 2020) that showcases a special passion and great artistic visions.

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A brief report from the November ACE executive committee’s meeting

The ACE executive committee met via Zoom on Wednesday November 11. The committee discussed the results of the ‘Survey on Future Digital Services’ sent to the Associates. 33 archives answered and this gave a good snapshot of the digital activities and needs of ACE members right now. The two main subjects that have emerged from the survey: the capacities and limitations in the archives for working with their own assets, and the common desire of the members for external collaboration and the future growth of their own platforms. The clear takeaway is the need for a common platform to bring people into closer communication with their colleagues from other institutions. It was also discussed the need to use the best practices developed for i-Media Cities for EFG. It was suggested the possibility of creating a digital task force for the project. EC has two different tasks: to ensure the sustainability and development of EFG and IMC, and the second one is to discuss the requests/wishes coming out from the survey.

The creation of a technical experts working group is necessary to draft a project for the further development of these ideas and platforms. The Romanian Film archive expressed a desire to join the EFG platform but four more members are needed to fulfill our obligation under the new DSI-4 grant to continue to grow the number of contributors.

During the future months, it’s vital to follow the associates in different countries facing the adoption of the Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: A report of the initiatives organised by ACE members

The 27th of October saw the celebration of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, a key initiative for both UNESCO and the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) to honor audiovisual preservation professionals and institutions that safeguard our heritage for future generations. Around the world audiovisual archives join together annually on this day to celebrate their work with events that not only highlight the vulnerability of these valuable materials, but also to celebrate the often, unheralded work of the institutions that provide protection and preservation, ensuring their availability in the future. This year the theme of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage was“Your Window to the World”.

Here you can find the initiatives organised by ACE members for the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage:

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Film Restored 2020 – A celebration of European film heritage

The fifth edition of the festival Film Restored, organized by the Deutsche Kinemathek, will welcome films and guests from all over Europe to celebrate film heritage from October 27 through November 1. The Festival will take place on location in Berlin in compliance with sanitary restrictions. Film Restored is pleased to present 21 films from 15 countries, films that have been produced, passed down and restored thanks to European cooperation. The events at Arsenal Cinema will be complemented by digital offers such as film screenings with introductions in order to make them accessible to a broader audience.

The program features new restorations, such as the opening night feature film “Kuhle Wape” (Slatan Dudow, 1932), the original version of “Ekstase” (Gustav Machatý, 1933) and “Love, Life and Laughter” (George Pearson, 1923), long thought to be lost. These new restorations include a number of movies from the silent era which will be shown for the first time in decades with live music to accompany them. The program will be completed with a series of lectures about restoration work, lectures and panel discussions.

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A big closing event for Le Giornate del Cinema Muto

Le Giornate del Cinema Muto festival from Pordenone (Italy) will close with a big event via streaming and in presence. Thanks to Lobster Films from Paris and to the American Library of Congress, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy will be the protagonists of the special closing event “Laurel o Hardy” available on streaming at 8:30 PM CEST Saturday 10th October with a live musical accompaniment by Neil Brand. The event will be repeated the following day in presence at 4.30 PM CEST at the Verdi Theatre in Pordenone with a live musical accompaniment by the Zerorchestra.

The films screened during this event want to highlight the genius of Laurel and Hardy that was evident even before they first teamed up. Le Giornate del Muto have decided to present 5 riotous shorts that precede their legendary partnership, each one joyfully showcasing their individual talents.

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‘A Season of Classic Films’ to be presented on Monday 31 August at Il Cinema Ritrovato


Gian Luca Farinelli, on behalf of Sandra Den Hamer (ACE’s President), will announce on Monday the Season of Classic Films initiative at Il Cinema Ritrovato festival.

This will happen during the conversation between Thierry Frémaux and Gian Luca Farinelli on Monday 31st at twelve o’clock at Cinema Lumiere (Sala Officinema/Mastroianni). At the end of the conversation Gian Luca Farinelli will present the trailer of the project.

It’s possible to follow the event online on the Festival’s streaming website:
https://www.mymovies.it/ondemand/cinema-ritrovato/

and also on ACE’s FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/AssociationdesCinemathequesEuropeennes/

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Il Cinema Ritrovato Book Fair and the 2020 DVD Awards

From August 24th to the 31st, during Il Cinema Ritrovato, the Biblioteca Renzi in the Cineteca di Bologna will host an unmissable event for cinema fanatics with hundreds of books, DVDs and Blu-rays: Il Cinema Ritrovato Book fair.

It is the 18th birthday of the Book fair and regardless of the difficulties of the current year, the Cineteca has decided to confirm the event, albeit in a reduced version, to offer the Festival attendees some publications. There will be space for publications by film archives from all over the world and other national and international editors. Among this year’s news, the Biblioteca Renzi will host a selection of DVDs for a low price that include rarities but also contemporary works.

Among the many publications, the Cineteca di Bologna has decided to highlight the finalists of this year’s DVD Awards. These include some ACE members such as BFI, Filmoteka Narodowna, Národní filmový archiv and Magyar Nemzeti Filmarchívum. The DVD Awards will be given out on Friday, August 28th in Piazzetta Pasolini. This year’s jury is composed by Paolo Mereghetti, Lorenzo Codelli, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Philippe Garnier, Pamela Hutchinson and Miguel Marías.

Among the Italian editors at the Book Fair: Eagle Pictures, 01distribution, Dino Audino Editore, CG Entertainment and Mustang Entertainment.

Among the foreign editors: Edition Filmmuseum, Lobster Films, Cinematek Royale de Belgique, EYE FilmMuseum, Film Heritage Foundation, Institut Lumière e Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé.

For more information on the Book Fair click here.

For a full list of the Il Cinema Ritrovato | Dvd Awards finalists, click here.

The programme of Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival 2020

400 films, 7 movie theaters, 3 outdoor arenas: the 34th edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, organized by Cineteca di Bologna, will take place from 25th to the 31st August, in Bologna, in person.

The 34th edition of what has been considered the Paradise of the cinephiles will showcase cinema history, from its origins to today, thanks to restorations, retrospectives, documentaries, world premieres of titles selected by Cannes film Festival (this is the case for Fellini degli spiriti by Anselma Dell’Olio and Last Words by Jonathan Nossiter).

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