28 November 2015 – Since July 2014,  leading Film Heritage Institutions and cinema organisations are working together in the ABCinema project to share best practices and to explore, on a pan European level, creative approaches to encourage children, young people and teachers to engage with film heritage.  The ABCinema website gives now access to first results, providing a catalogue of film’s related activities, supporting materials and practical guidance. The catalogue covers all types of films, mainly silent and non-narrative formats.  Children and students are encouraged to enjoy the playfulness of animation cinema, to explore the great creativity and dream-like potential of surrealistic movies, and to get familiar with the impact of specific narrative elements like shadow, movement, sound etc. So far, twelve different activities based on twelve films are available on the website.  They aim at enabling children and young people from 3 to 25 years old to explore their own creativity by experimenting with the material, by making their own films, as well as developing an understanding of the cultural richness, the social, historical and artistic importance of cinema. All activities, related films and resources intend  to inspire practitioners, teachers and educators that wish to work with heritage films.

The first project year was dedicated to develop, implement and exchange film literacy activities among the partners. In the second project year, which started September 2015 and will run for one year, ABCinema plus will focus on peer-to-peer activities, addressing educational departments, decision-makers and teachers alike, while continuing to enrich the ABCinema website with best practices. The overall goal is to establish ABCinema as an expert hub for film literacy activities working with archival material. ABCinema and the follow-up project ABCinemaplus have been co-funded by the CREATIVE EUROPE programme of the European Union.

Partners:  Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna (Bologna), Cinémathèque royale (Brussels), Deutsches Filminstitut (Frankfurt/Main), Les Enfants de Cinéma (Paris), EYE Filmmuseum (Amsterdam), Watershed Arts Trust (Bristol), Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (Brussels).

Project Coordination:
Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Enrica Serrani – enrica.serrani@cineteca.bologna.it
Elisa Giovannelli – elisa.giovannelli@cineteca.bologna.it

www.abcinemaproject.eu

Follow ABCinema on Facebook: www.facebook.com/abcinemaproject

30 September 2015 – The constant development of digitization broadens the access to the film market. When film can be accessed from everywhere, cinemas, and particularly those that show classical and silent films, must find innovative ways to engage with audiences. At the 5^th ACE workshop, which took place in Bologna on 3^rd July 2015, film archivists and curators came together to present their activities in promoting archival films and developing audiences for this specific material.  It was also discussed how cinematheques can better collaborate as a network, and share both best practices and cinema programmes.

Making “old” films fashionable

Tadeusz Kowalski (Filmoteka Narodowa, Warsaw) moderated the workshop.  One of Filmoteka’s approach to make archival films more “trendy” is to combine a modern and a classical film on same topic, which allows the viewer to follow the development of cinema from the perspective of a particular theme. Filmoteka also organises cine-concerts to celebrate re-premieres of restored silent films. They have created an own TV programme, “Iluzjon.TV” , to inform about special events and the actual programme. It can be watched on You Tube, Facebook and in the cinema.

Presentation Out of Love for Cinema

  Happenings and Communality

KAVI – the National Audiovisual Archive in Finland shows high quality 4K restorations, 70 mm films, 3D as well as Technicolor restorations, introduced by experts.  Popular formats like sing-along contests and dress-along screenings help to bring new audiences into the theatre. 

Presentation Audience development and film education at KAVI

 “We Want Cinema” – Attracting younger audiences

Cinematheques offer a wide range of activities for kids and young adults to raise enthusiasm about watching, making and experiencing film.  Sandra den Hamer  (EYE Film Institute Netherlands, Amsterdam) presented MOVIE ZONE,  an online platform that provides teaching materials, film tips, and an interactive film series teacher and pupils can works with. “EYE Exposed” is an innovative approach to involve young adults to write blogs about cultural events at EYE. They organize openings at EYE and share this information with their community. The Short Film Pool (“Korte Film Poule”) offers special educational programmes for primary and secondary schools. Subscribers have unlimited access to 250 short films, and DCPs are made on demand. 

 “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine” – Sharing film programmes

Mariona Bruzzo (Filmoteca Catalunya) presented the anthology “Basics of Catalan Cinema”. The five programmes (11 sessions) cover Catalan film production from the silent era until the 1980’s. The aim is to promote Catalan film heritage among FIAF members, festivals and cultural institutions. The programmes will be available in 2016.

Presentation Basic Films of Catalan Cinema

 “Try the multiplexes”

Gian Luca Farinelli reported about Cineteca di Bologna’s success in doubling the size of their audience from 70,000 visitors in 2007  to nearly 130.000 in 2014, by offering a specified programme for different types of audiences. Through  ccooperation with commercial cinemas, Cineteca di Bologna was able to show restored classical films in 19 different cities in Italy.

Improve collaboration, share experiences

Although the presentations show that Cinematheques are innovative and successful in attracting new audiences, it is a matter of fact that archival films are less and less shown, states Nicola Mazzanti (Cinémathèque royale de Belgique). ACE members need to better collaborate and share information about prints and DCP’s already available to circulate them among the network. Also, members should  share experiences about titles which work and which doesn’t work, on the cinema screen as well as on VoD. The network could also collaborate closer in translating subtitles and buying film rights jointly. And why not trying the multiplexes? France is a good example that there is a demand and a market for heritage films.

 ACE has initiated the workshop series “Management Strategies for Film Archives in the Digital Age” in 2012. It is  a forum for discussing the impact of the digital paradigm on the daily work of archivists and curators working in Europe’s Film Heritage Institutions. Topics of the previous workshops were a) Digital archiving and workflows, b) Digital preservation and exhibition, c) Re-inventing cinephilia, d) Acquisition and collection policy.