Category: Announcements

A Season of Classic Films: ‘Apartado de Correos 1001’ (1950)

Restored by Filmoteca de Catalunya in 4K, the film Apartado de Correos 1001 (P.O. Box 1001) will be presented in a free open-air screening event at the Plaza de Salvador Seguí on Sunday 17 July 2022 at 22:00, as part of A Season of Classic Films. The film will also be free-to-view worldwide between 18 and 19 July.

This film is a great classic of Barcelona’s cinema noir. An echo of the Hollywood thrillers in the context of the Franco regime.

The film was shot on location: on the streets and at popular venues of 1950s Barcelona city centre, especially the neighbourhood where the cinema theatre of Filmoteca de Catalunya is located nowadays. How does this film from the fifties connect to the realities of the neighbourhood today? Filmoteca has conceived a physical and virtual itinerary that connects films linked to the area of Raval. The result is a collaborative map to understand how cinema produces reality and reality produces cinema. The map is available to pick up at the Filmoteca or in a digital version. Audiences can follow the itinerary in the way that suits them best (fragmented, complete, with or without company…) and are encouraged to share snapshots using the tag #FilmoRutaRaval. An organised walk will take place before the film screening, upon registration.

Apartado de Correos 1001 (P.O. Box 1001) | Spain, 1950, 90’, fiction

Director: Julio Salvador. Producer: Emisora Films. With: Tomás Blanco, Modesto Cid, Elena Espejo, Guillermo Marín, Conrado San Martín. Script: Julio Coll, Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi. Cinematography: Federico G. Larraya. Music: Ramón Ferrés. Physical characteristics of first release: 16mm, 90’, B&W, sound, Spanish. Film copy screened during A Season of Classic Films: New restoration. DCP 4K, 90’, Spanish. Subtitles available: English, French. Copyright: Video Mercury Films, SAU.

Barcelona, 1950. A man is murdered in the street in front of a police station. Two agents of the criminal brigade, a skilled veteran and an eager young one, are in charge of the investigation. We follow them on their journey to a thrilling climax in a local amusement park.

A Season of Classic Films: Celebrating film heritage across Europe

A Season of Classics Films is a series of free film screenings and parallel activities across Europe designed to attract younger audiences to our shared cinematic cultural heritage. The programme looks to raise awareness of the work of European film archives, connecting the public with cinema history and the significance of film preservation. Most of the films are premiere digital restorations and some screenings include live performances and educational interactive sessions. All films are available with English subtitles. Additionally, French or other subtitles are in some cases available. This is an initiative of the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) with the support of the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

For dates and access links of the upcoming free screenings in cinemas across Europe and online, please follow ACE’s website and social media pages on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter.


 

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION DES CINÉMATHÈQUES EUROPÉENNES (ACE)

The Association of European Cinematheques (Association des Cinémathèques Européennes – ACE) is an affiliation of 49 European national and regional film archives. Its role is to safeguard the European film heritage and make the rich audiovisual records collected and preserved by the various film archives accessible to the public. ACE members are non-profit institutions committed to the FIAF Code of Ethics.

Follow ACE news on social media  Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

General Assembly and new Executive Committee Elections 2022

Today, June 29th, saw the ACE General Assembly, which took place at MAMbo Museum in Bologna. The GA was an opportunity to elect the new executive committee and discuss new ACE projects.
 
The new ACE executive committee is composed by:
President: Michal Bregant, Narodní filmový archiv, Prague
Treasurer: Thomas Christensen, Det Danske Filminstitut, Copenhagen
Secretary General: Mikko Kuutti, National Audiovisual Institute, Helsinki

Chicca Bergonzi, Cinémathèque suisse, Lausanne
Anna Fiaccarini, Cineteca di Bologna, Bologna
Giovanna Fossati, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
Ellen Harrington, DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt
Rui Machado, Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema, Lisbon
György Ráduly, National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive, Budapest

In the first photo they are pictured together with Paulina Reizi (Eye Filmmuseum), ACE EC Coordinator.

A special thanks to our outgoing president Sandra den Hamer.

 

OPEN CALL: Eye Traineeship Programme “Film Restoration” and “Film Collection”

Eye Filmmuseum is pleased to announce that the call for the Traineeship Programme “Film Restoration” and “Film Collection” for starting film restorers and film collection specialists is now open.

With these two traineeships, Eye aims to build a bridge between academic training and hands-on daily practices. This programme is designed to educate a new generation of film restorers and film collection specialists and seeks to facilitate their transition into the labour market.

Applicants are invited to send in their applications by July 1st, 2022.

For more information on the application process, please read the open call here: https://www.eyefilm.nl/uploads/downloads/blocks/vacature-2022-Traineeship-Call-for-Applications-EN.pdf.

If you have questions about the traineeships, please get in touch with Eleni Tzialli at eyeacademic@eyefilm.nl

A Season of Classic Films: Premiere with Face to Face (Greece, 1966) and Blue 9 (Yugoslavia, 1950)

ACE presents the 3rd edition of A Season of Classic Films, which includes cinema and online screenings of restored films and parallel events organised by 22 European film archives between June and December 2022.

Opening night is Thursday 9 June (International Archives Day) and will start with the world premiere of the restored Face to Face (1966) by the Greek Film Archive. The film is about a timid young man hired to give English lessons to the daughter of a nouveau riche family. The screening will take place at Lais Open Air Cinema in Athens, while free online access is available for one day starting at 20:00 (Paris time) on 9th June.

On Friday 10 June, the programme continues with the restored Croatian comedy Blue 9. The film will be presented by the Croatian state archive – Croatian cinematheque at the main cinema room of the Archives and it will be free-to-view online from 10 to 17 June.

Both online screenings offer worldwide access with English subtitles.

Πρόσωπο με Πρόσωπο [Prosopo me Prosopo] (Face to Face) | Greece, 1966, 84’, fiction

Director-Producer: Roviros Manthoulis. With: Costas Messaris, Eleni Stavropoulou, Theano Ioannidou, Lambros Kotsiris, Alexis Georgiou, Mary Gotsi. Script: Roviros Manthoulis, Kostas Mourselas. Cinematography: Stamatis Trypos. Music: Nikos Mamangakis. Editing: Panos Papakyriakopoulos. Physical characteristics of first release: 35mm, 1:1.66, 24fps, 84’, B&W, sound, Greek. Film copy screened during A Season of Classic Films: Restoration premiere. DCP 4K (physical screening) and ProRes (online screening), 84’, Greek. Subtitles: English. Copyright: Roviros Manthoulis.

The main story of the film is about a poor English teacher who tutors the daughter of a rich family and flirts with both the daughter and her mother. Manthoulis presents a bitter satire of the new bourgeoisie which was profiting from the rapid economic growth in the 1960s but also presents a unique portrait of Athens experiencing a rapid and poorly planned urban development.

Only a few weeks after filmmaker Roviros Manthoulis passed away, this screening also serves as a tribute to his acclaimed work. Manthoulis played a crucial role in the renewal of Greek cinema in both documentary and fiction film. In the beginning of April, he was informed about how the restoration of his film Face to Face was going and of the great impression it made to the colleagues at the laboratory of Imagine Ritrovata in Paris – he was happy but also very modest. He died on April 21st, exactly 55 years after his film was first screened in Hyeres Festival. It was enthusiastically received by both the public and the critics and, as a result, it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Manthoulis then made statements against the Greek military junta (1967-74) that were broadcast worldwide and the film was banned by the colonels.

The image and sound restoration have been carried out in 4K based on the original 35mm negatives, preserved at the Greek Film Archive vaults. The film will be screened during the 12th Avant Garde Film Festival in Athens, following a roundtable discussion on film restoration including film experts Cecilia Barrionuevo, Ehsan Khoshbakht, Céline Ruivo, Elena Tammacarro, and Marian Vujovic as well as the inauguration of the Greek Film Archive’s exhibition “Magical Images”.

Plavi 9 (Blue 9) | Yugoslavia, 1950, 93’, fiction

Director: Krešo Golik. Producer: Jadran film. With: Irena Kolesar, Jugoslav Nalis, Antun Nalis, Ljubomir Didić, Tješivoj Cinotti, Šime Šimatović, Josip Daneš, Stane Sever, Veljko Maričić. Script: Geno Senečić, Hrvoje Macanović, Krešo Golik. Cinematography: Nikola Tanhofer and Slavko Zalar. Music: Bruno Bjelinski. Editing: Radojka Ivančević. Physical characteristics of first release: 35mm, 93’, B&W, optical sound, Croatian. Film copy screened during A Season of Classic Films: New restoration. DCP 2K, 93’, Croatian. Subtitles: English. Copyright: Jadran film (until the end of 2000); authors rights.

The film Blue 9 depicts adventures in the world of football with all the challenges and glory this game offers. The main striker of the city football team, Fabris, is a selfish individualist convinced of his irreplaceability. He is also a womanizer who tries to seduce young Nena, a hardworker and successful swimmer. Nena is close to the underwater welder Zdravko, a talented football striker who wears a jersey with a blue 9.

The basic formula of this film is part of the agitprop, which dealt with one of the foundations of the socialist system – physical education. The ideological engagement did not prevent the film from becoming a big hit in cinemas, mainly due to attractive footage of sport competitions, girls in bathing suits, and the fashionable life of football stars. Blue 9 is regarded as the first Yugoslav film to escape from the war narrative and set its plot in the everyday life.

A Season of Classic Films: Celebrating film heritage across Europe

A Season of Classics Films is a series of free film screenings and parallel activities across Europe designed to attract younger audiences to our shared cinematic cultural heritage. The programme looks to raise awareness of the work of European film archives, connecting the public with cinema history and the significance of film preservation. Most of the films are premiere digital restorations and some screenings include live performances and educational interactive sessions. All films are available with English subtitles. Additionally, French or other subtitles are in some cases available. This is an initiative of the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) with the support of the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

For dates and access links of the upcoming free screenings in cinemas across Europe and online, please follow ACE’s website and social media pages on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter.


 

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION DES CINÉMATHÈQUES EUROPÉENNES (ACE)

The Association of European Cinematheques (Association des Cinémathèques Européennes – ACE) is an affiliation of 49 European national and regional film archives. Its role is to safeguard the European film heritage and make the rich audiovisual records collected and preserved by the various film archives accessible to the public. ACE members are non-profit institutions committed to the FIAF Code of Ethics.

Follow ACE news on social media  Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

ACE announces the 2022 edition of ‘A Season of Classic Films’ and award of a new Joint Restoration Grant at Cannes

The third edition of ‘A Season of Classic Films’ was presented today at the EU Pavilion in Cannes when ACE (Association des Cinémathèques Européennes) revealed details of the new programme running June to December 2022 in European cinemas and online.

A Season of Classic Films

‘A Season of Classic Films’ is a series of free screenings designed to attract younger audiences to our shared cinematic cultural heritage. The programme looks to raise awareness of the work of European film archives, connecting the public with cinema history and the significance of film preservation. Most of the films are new digital restorations, and some screenings include dynamic elements such as live music performances and educational interactive sessions. All films are available with English subtitles.

Twenty-two film archives from 21 European countries (all ACE members) will participate in the classic film season, and each archive has selected a film or film compilation from their own collection to restore and present.

Joint Restoration Grant

Additionally at the event in Cannes, ACE presented the Joint Restoration Grant of €50,000 awarded for the restoration of the film Life of a Shock Force Worker (1972). The jury, comprising filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, Pordenone Silent Film Festival director Jay Weissberg and director of the Cinema-Fiction Department of ARTE Claudia Tronnier, selected the film from a raft of proposals submitted by European film archives.

Four partner institutions from Slovenia, Croatia, Austria and Bosnia are joining forces to restore Life of a Shock Force Worker, a wonderful example of Yugoslavian New Cinema. Inspired by daily life in a coal mine, the film critiques the political regime of the era, all the time illustrating the state ideology of comradeship and unity. It further offers a clearer and more nuanced view of Yugoslavian film history, one of the blind spots on the map of European film heritage, and at the same time touches upon the pertinent matter of propaganda in our post-truth era.

“Large parts of the Yugoslavian film heritage have so far been underserved,” the jury writes of its choice. “Life of a Shock Force Worker has strong imagery, but it is in desperate need of colour grading since the original has faded with time. A key asset is that ACE and the four partner institutions responsible for this restoration project will collaborate with DoP Karpo Godina.”

During the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, film director Bahrudin Bato Čengić deposited a 35mm print of the film at the Slovenian cinematheque, while the image and sound negatives remain at the Croatian state archive. Post-restoration, the film will be offered in a new 2K edition with the support of the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme and the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia.

Cinema and online screenings

This year’s ‘A Season of Classic Films’ promises to offer very much an in-person series of events and presentations within European cinemas. Most of the films will also be available online to allow for a greater reach to international audiences, building up on the experience gained during the previous edition.

“The second edition of A Season of Classic Films took place when most of our public venues were closed for long periods of time,” says ACE President Sandra den Hamer, also Director of Eye Filmmuseum. “Nevertheless, European cinematheques actively connected with their audiences through online screenings, new streaming platforms and/or hybrid events. ‘A Season of Classic Films’, as a joint project, again strengthened the collaboration and solidarity between the participating film institutions.”

From left: Jay Weissberg, Paulina Reizi, Sergei Loznitsa, Claudia Tronnier, Sandra den Hamer.

The Cannes ‘A Season of Classic Films’ presentation took place on May 23 at the EU Pavilion. The event was moderated by Paulina Reizi (Eye Filmmuseum, Coordinator of A Season of Classic Films). Speakers and special guests included Sandra den Hamer (President of ACE and director of Eye Filmmuseum), Sergei Loznitsa (Filmmaker), Claudia Tronnier (Director of the Cinema-Fiction Department at ARTE) and Jay Weissberg (Director of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival).


 

 

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION DES CINÉMATHÈQUES EUROPÉENNES (ACE)

The Association of European Cinematheques (Association des Cinémathèques Européennes – ACE) is an affiliation of 49 European national and regional film archives. Its role is to safeguard the European film heritage and make the rich audiovisual records collected and preserved by the various film archives accessible to the public. ACE members are non-profit institutions committed to the FIAF Code of Ethics.

 

Follow ACE news on social media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acefilmeu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/acefilmeu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AssociationdesCinemathequesEuropeennes

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6t1DuueXow

 

 

 

The recipients of the ACE scolarship for the 2022 FIAF Film Restoration Summer School

We are proud to announce the recipients of the ACE scolarship for the 2022 FIAF Film Restoration Summer School. Their names are:
Paulo Cartaxo (Portugal) – 750 Euro
Saara Kruus (Estonia) – 750 Euro
Marko Turkus (Slovenia) – 750 Euro
Anri Vartanov (U.S.A.) – 750 Euro
Sasan Tofighian (Iran) – 1000 Euro
Donart Zymberi (Kosovo) – 1000 Euro
To find out more, click the following link: http://www.immagineritrovata.it/it/summer-school/ 

ArteKino Classics: A New Look at Europe’s Film Heritage

Europe’s film heritage is a cultural treasure of astonishing diversity that will have a special place in ARTE with the establishment of the new programme ArteKino Classics. The works waiting to be (re)discovered by all Europeans include both well-known classics and films that are remarkable for their view of the world, their cinematography, or the superb acting.

ArteKino Classics is to kick off on 29 March 2022. It is composed of a three-month-long highlight, followed by a monthly offering, as of June 2022. The films on arte.tv will be available Europe-wide with subtitles in six languages. The twenty recently restored films from almost as many countries were selected in close consultation with the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE). A third of them are by women directors. ArteKino Classics brings together European films that broke new ground in cinematography.

As part of this programme, ARTE licensed feature films from ACE’s A Season of Classic Films catalogue that consists of newly-restored distinguished titles and less known gems (see catalogue here). These titles are: The Man who had his hair cut short (1965, André Delvaux) – Royal Belgian Film Archive, She Didn’t Say No! (1958, Cyril Frankel) – Irish Film Institute, Derborence (1985, Francis Reusser) – Cinémathèque suisse, The Wayward Girl (1959, Edith Carlmar) – Norwegian Film Institute, and The Death of a Horse (1992, Saimir Kumbaro) – Albanian National Film Archive. These films will be complemented with additional titles co-curated by ACE member institutions.

ArteKino Classics, which is part of the ArteKino project, is co-funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

Film Programme: English, Français, DeutschEspañol, Italiano, Polski.

Watch the films online: English, Français, Deutsch, Español, Italiano, Polski.

 

Follow ACE on social media for the latest news: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

ACE Actions to Support Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine is in its 4th week, we continue to seek ways that we can support our colleagues from the Oleksandr Dvozhenko Centre in Kyiv.

FIAF reports that a frequent contact with our brave colleagues of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre in Kyiv is kept to try and provide advice or put them in touch with other organizations that can help them protect their institution and collection.

A fundraising campaign to help the Dovzhenko Centre has been set up by British achitect and camera historian Richard Bossons, who has close links with the Dovzhenko Centre. FIAF will be donating to the Fund, and it encourage its affiliates – both institutionally and individually, to do the same if they can. The fundraising campaign can be found here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/vufku-100-helping-the-dovzhenko-centre-in-kyiv

ACE would also like to develop a list of current offers being made, or actions being taken, by our Member institutions. We would then share this feedback with all of you, which might serve as inspiration for many of us to take further action.

Examples we have learned of so far include: possible employment/housing or other support offers for affected colleagues, technical advice about protecting collections, fundraising events, public statements of support, providing educational materials or other resources to refugee centers, and free entry to museums and cinemas for refugee populations (from all countries affected by crises). Please email us with your updates at ace@ace-film.eu which is ACE’s new contact email address.

Statement from the ACE regarding the entrance of Russian troops into Kyiv, Ukraine 

The Executive Committee of the ACE shares the deep concerns articulated by our fellow film heritage organizations, as represented by the attached statement from FIAF. ACE members share the European Continent and a mission to preserve our shared moving image histories, and we fear for the well-being of our colleagues at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre. The human tragedy now unfolding due to Russia’s aggression could be further compounded by the potential loss of irreplaceable and culturally significant collections, as so often happens in the context of war. We stand ready to assist our colleagues, as they themselves have suggested to the FIAF through the following possible actions, among others. We urge our Member Archives to show their support any of these ways:

  • Share publicly the successful stories of cooperation with Ukraine, considering that in recent years our country achieved essential progress in arts and cinematography, cultural diplomacy, sharing and promoting European values. 
  • Mention the current war in Ukraine in your public talks and speeches — during art and film events, festivals, meetings, stating that this war is a war against the whole civilized world, free thought, and democratic values;
  • Initiate joint public statements from civil organizations, institutions, and industry associations — filmmakers, producers, actors, experts, and institutions on heritage preservation and security; 
  • Share information on the war and the current situation in social media with the hashtag #StandWithUkraine.
  • Finally, they suggested that financial support can be made via the NGO Vostok SOS.

Respectfully submitted by the Executive Committee Members of the ACE

Public lecture series This is Film! Film Heritage in Practice

Eye Filmmuseum presents the 8th edition of This is Film! Film Heritage in Practice, a public lecture series devoted to notable projects in the fields of film restoration and film heritage. Under the overarching theme of Global Audiovisual Archiving, also this year’s theme of the Eye International Conference, international scholars and archival practitioners showcase and discuss archival practices from all over the globe.

Each of the six sessions will highlight different institutional and non-institutional efforts and archival practices worldwide. Together with guests, we explore topics like film heritage in Brazil, forgotten female film directors from Indonesia, the African Film Heritage Project, the efforts of the Asian Film Archive and the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association, non-institutional practices in Latin America, and the Cinematheque Beirut project. This year’s guests are all members of the Advisory Board of the Eye International Conference on Global Audiovisual Archiving.

Film, talks & discussion
Each session will feature a short introduction by Giovanna Fossati (Chief Curator at Eye and Professor of Film Heritage at the University of Amsterdam), followed by a lecture and Q&A with an international expert on the topic and a film screening. Eye will record these events for online publication afterwards.

Read more