Catch me if you can: Film Archiving in Motion

A quick search for “film archiving” in Google Image will give you photographs of shelves stacked with film cans, or of an archivist examining a film over a bench. These images, exploited by the media, archivists and institutions alike, have come to embody the profession. They present film archiving as an ageless field that has remained unchanged since its early days some 80 years ago.

In this first post, we would like to question the truthfulness of this representation and look at its underlying rationale. Our intention is thereby to open up a space to discuss future opportunities for the film archiving community: how come a profession that takes pride in preserving the medium of movement has come to adopt such a static identity? More importantly, what can we do to make sure that the field always remains in motion, advancing at society’s pace?

Defining film archiving has proved to be an arduous task, probably as difficult as pinpointing the essence of cinema. When asked that question, film archivists tend to turn full-on Fidel Castro and, like the Cuban revolutionary, become near impossible to interrupt – except if a film starts! The term “film archivist” itself, which is most often used to define people working in audiovisual archive institutions, has proved largely insufficient in expressing the complexities behind acquiring, preserving and making available our audiovisual heritage as well as encompassing the diversity of skills existing within the profession.

A split has always existed within audiovisual archives between curators and technicians. Because cinema is a reproducible medium, the content of a film is not intrinsically linked to its carrier, and the expertise required for one differs from that for the other.

Furthermore, film archives themselves have grown in size and number, moving away from their counterculture roots to enter the realm of mainstream institutional life. Automation and bureaucracy have become part of their everyday life, leading to the creation of new jobs in supporting roles. You can now find in most places an IT department that not only ensures access to a growing part of the collections, but also enables the company to function on an everyday basis; legal advisors can sometimes be found next door working on access policies that remain compliant to an always-more complicated copyright legislation.

The fact that an omnipotent film archivist as the sole guardian and gatekeeper of our film heritage has probably never existed, even among the pioneers, is probably the reason for a lack of a clear-cut definition of the term. A weakness of the trade for some, we would like to emphasise on the contrary the opportunities this offers. In our view, the term film archivist should not be taken literally but rather be understood as an umbrella. Indeed, the aforementioned professions, which are very different on an everyday basis, are brought together by a single purpose, that of salvaging our audiovisual heritage, and the people working towards this goal form a community – a community that is lived as much as imagined.

Professional bodies such as FIAF and AMIA have longed played a pivotal role in defining the scope of the field and creating a community of archivists, and other semi- professional and amateur groups have also been highly active in establishing platforms for archivists to connect worldwide. Individual institutions including archives, labs and museums regularly share their projects and activities and there is an increasing number of training courses, workshops and conferences designed to facilitate a collective approach to learning.

Historically there was no formal route to becoming a film archivist: some moved over from the film industry or post production labs, whilst others started out in the the arts heritage sector more broadly and then there are those who claim to have  “just fallen into the profession.” Today, a master’s degree from a specialist programme might be the most viable route for anyone interested in film preservation. In many ways this is an encouraging development as it increases the profession’s visibility and provides a more structured and focused track for future archivists.These academic courses are grounded in the history, theory and practice of the profession and help students develop robust skills in research, communication and cultural analysis.  What’s more, these programmes offer unique opportunities for networking and establishing contacts, which can greatly help with landing that elusive first job.

However, we should be mindful of over- institutionalising the profession as we risk losing the diversity and breadth of perspectives we seek to preserve. By finding ways to make the profession more accessible and by training and hiring a wider cross-section of society, we will be helping to create a more inclusive and representative future film heritage. If we truly care about marginalised moving image collections, we need to care equally about marginalised voices taking a more active role in documenting both the content and viewing practices of a wider audience.

Even from a practical perspective, a range of skills and backgrounds are needed on a daily basis. For instances, individuals who enjoy working with mechanical and digital technologies and take a more hands-on approach could excel in  scanning, film inspections or digital restoration, to name a few departments. These are not skills that are exclusively acquired through formal education and can be obtained through apprenticeships or school leaver programmes (for one such example, check out the Creative Skillset Media Traineeship). Filmmakers and artists who might be well-versed in analogue or digital workflows also have a great deal to offer to the world of film preservation. It is this beautiful blend of educational backgrounds and vocational skills that could help open up our community.  

We believe that for our archiving community to truly thrive, it is crucial that moving image institutions take on an active and forward-thinking role by creating more paid training opportunities, hiring candidates from unconventional backgrounds and recruiting those with wider viewing practices. As most national film archives will tell you, increasing access is hugely important; not just to the collections, but also to the profession itself. After all,  if we don’t try and keep pace, we could end up as obsolete as some of the technologies we work so hard to preserve.