The BFI National Archive attends the 2025 FIAF Congress
An enthusiastic gang of us were lucky enough to represent the BFI National Archive at this year’s International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Congress held in Montréal and hosted by the Cinémathèque québécoise.
The annual Congress is an opportunity for the global members of FIAF, of which the BFI is a founding member, to meet in-person, exchange ideas and collaborations on restoration projects. The theme for the 2025 Symposium was Film Archives Beget Films which inspired many fascinating and thought-provoking presentations.
A small (but not exhaustive) selection of presentation highlights included colourisation of the Tutankhamun excavation photos, archival re-appropriation and re-collection in Moroccan cinema, a collaboration between an archivist and student to restore footage from the Toronto 1973 Women & Film Festival International, the Archives Revisited project led by the Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute which included re-use of their archival material by artists, unfinished films in archives and the challenges of using archive materials i.e. cropping, colourisation and re-use of home films.
It was lovely to hear the BFI collection mentioned in two presentations which centred on the director and producer Alberto Cavalcanti – one focused on how a Cavalcanti directed compilation film, Film and Reality (1942), was made possible by the emergence of the FIAF community. In addition, there was a forum centred around AI and film archives, a subject which may one day form its own blog post.
We also had the chance to hear updates from the various FIAF commissions including Cataloguing & Documentation – BFI Information Specialist Natasha Fairbairn reported on work being done on revising and updating the FIAF Moving Image Cataloguing Manual using GitHub. The Commission held their meetings in the (very rainy) days prior to the Symposium and the various Task Forces of the Commission reported back on their projects, plus upcoming workshops in Bologna, Mexico, and online were discussed. The Special Collections Directory should hopefully be publicly accessible by the end of June, and the Linked Open Data Task Force are currently transforming contributed datasets (including ones from the BFI) to conform to FIAFcore ontology.
BFI Film Conservation Manager, Elena Nepoti, updated the Congress during the Technical Commission Workshop. Among its various initiatives, the Technical Commission workshop placed particular emphasis on two projects led by BFI Head of Conservation Kieron Webb. The first is the development of best practice guidelines on the digitisation and of sound, which will become Part IV of FIAF The Digital Statement. The second is the creation of the Moving Image Conservation Research Laboratory (MICRL) at the BFI, funded by a grant from the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the RICHES project.
The General Assembly was also particularly engaging. Among the key matters voted on were the adoption of the new FIAF Revised Code of Ethics and the re-election of the Executive Committee, which now includes its first-ever representative from Africa. BFI Executive Director of Knowledge, Learning & Collections Arike Oke was also re-elected to the FIAF Executive Committee with a vote share of 80.52%, meaning she will serve as Deputy/Vice Secretary General of the Federation for the next two years.
As part of the General Assembly, the hosts presented rare film elements to the Cinémathèque Africaine de Ouagadougou and the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire – Cheikh Anta DIOP. This was a joint project to preserve and promote the works of Quebec filmmaker Danièle Lacourse and her team. Filmed in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Rwanda between 1985 and 1996, these films were handed over in the presence of the filmmaker and the Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal in Canada, Gorgui Ciss.
It would be remiss not to mention the fantastic films which were so well curated by our hosts. Many of the screenings included features made in Montréal or by local filmmakers and it made for an eclectic programme. Titles including Maelström (2000, Dir. Denis Villeneuve), Scanners (1981, dir. David Cronenberg) and Les six saisons attikameks (1983, Dir. Pierre Dinel, Pierre Hivon). As if that wasn’t enough, some of us visited the famous National Film Board of Canada’s main building and were given a presentation on the technical capabilities of their film stores and conservation and digitisation rooms.
A final thanks to our host city, Montréal, who gave us such a warm welcome. Some of the team had the opportunity to explore the surrounding area and take in the beautiful sights of the old city, Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End. An excursion into Mount Royal Park gave breathtaking views of the city and was the perfect way to round off the conference.
– Jo Molyneux (Archive Access Researcher), Elena Nepoti (Film Conservation Manager) and Natasha Fairbairn (Information Specialist)
The Inside the Archive blog is supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.
