The Association of European Cinematheques (French: Association des Cinémathèques Européennes - ACE) is an affiliation of 49 European national and regional film archives founded in 1991. Its role is to safeguard the European film heritage and make these rich audiovisual records collected and preserved by the various film archives accessible to the public. ACE is a regional branch of FIAF Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film / International Federation of Film Archives. ACE members are non-profit institutions committed to the FIAF Code of Ethics.
History
European film archives have been collecting, preserving, and restoring films and other materials relating to films since the 1930s. The collections range from pre-cinema apparatus to
digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be sh ...
files, all of which require specific methods, techniques and an extensive knowledge of film history for preservation.
In 1991, representatives of 31 main European film archives came together to create LUMIERE, a pan-European film restoration project. It was the first large-scale film restoration project funded by the MEDIA I Programme of the European community. The LUMIERE project lasted between 1991 and 1996, during which more than 1000 film titles were preserved and restored, 700 films were re-discovered and identified and a Joint European Filmography (JEF) was established.
ACE started in 1991 as the Association des Cinémathèques de la Communauté Européenne (ACCE). By the end of the LUMIERE project in 1996, the association renamed to its current title, Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE), and established collaboratively its role in raising awareness of the cultural and economic value of European film heritage among policymakers and the audiovisual industry.
Operating on the European level, ACE also represents the interest of its members in the European Union. ACE works to support and improve the economic and legal conditions, as well as technical and scientific research for
digitization
DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-r ...
and long-term
film preservation
Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wid ...
Filmoteca de Catalunya
The Filmoteca de Catalunya is a film archive located in Catalunya, Spain, aiming at the preservation of film and the dissemination of audiovisual and film culture. The head office and public rooms (cinemas, exhibition rooms, library) are located ...
Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv
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, Berlin
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Deutsche Kinemathek
Die Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen is a major German film archive located in Berlin.
History
The Deutsche Kinemathek opened in 1963. Until the opening of a permanent display in the Museum of Film and Television Berlin (Mu ...
Centre national du cinéma
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...
Det Danske Filminstitut
The Danish Film Institute ( da, Det Danske Filminstitut) is the national Danish agency responsible for supporting and encouraging film and cinema culture, and for conserving these in the national interest.
Also known as ''Filmhuset'' ("the film h ...
, Copenhagen
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Irish Film Institute
The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, ...
, Dublin
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DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum DFF or D.F.F. may refer to:
* ''D.F.F.'', a 2002 extended play, a by extreme metal and stoner rock band Blood Duster
* Danish Council for Independent Research (''Det Frie Forskningsråd''), a Danish governmental body
* Deutscher Fernsehfunk, the st ...
Cinémathèque suisse
The Swiss Film Archive (French: ''Cinémathèque suisse'', German: ''Schweizer Filmarchiv'') is a Swiss state-approved noncommercial foundation based in Lausanne.
Its aims are to collect, protect, study and present film archives.Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema, Lisbon
# Slovenski filmski arhiv, Ljubljana
# Slovenska kinoteka / Slovenian Cinematheque, Ljubljana
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British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, London
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Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
s, London
# La Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
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Filmoteca Española
The Filmoteca Española (Spanish Cinemathèque) is an official institution of the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Its objective is to restore, investigate and conserve the film heritage of Spain and its diffusion.
Sites
Its cinema where films are ...
, Madrid
# Fondazione
Cineteca Italiana
Cineteca Italiana is a private film archive located in Milan, Italy, established in 1947, and as a foundation in 1996.
History
Established in 1947, and as a foundation in 1996, the Cineteca Italiana houses over 20,000 films and more than 100,000 ...
, Milan
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Gosfilmofond
Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and oth ...
, Moscow
# Filmmuseum München, Münich
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Nasjonalbiblioteket
The National Library of Norway ( no, Nasjonalbiblioteket) was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened i ...
Národní filmový archiv
The National Film Archive (, abb. NFA) is a film archive located in Prague, Czech Republic. It was established in 1943 (From 1943 to 1945 known as Filmový archiv, from 1945 to 1989 Československý filmový ústav, then from 1990 to 1992 Český ...
, Prague
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Cineteca Nazionale
Cineteca Nazionale is a film archive located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1949. By law it manages the so-called legal deposit, with the task of collecting, preserving and disseminating the productions of Italian cinema. It is the only Italian ...
Svenska Filminstitutet
The Swedish Film Institute ( sv, Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the ''Filmhuset'' building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm. The building, co ...
Filmarchiv Austria
The Filmarchiv Austria ("Austrian Film Archive") is an organisation for the discovery, reconstruction and preservation of Austrian film record material: films themselves, literature about film and cinema, or film-related periodicals. With over 260, ...
The European Commission directly supports efforts to protect Europe's film heritage. The legal basis for action is Article 167 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), which encourages member states to support the conservation and safeguard of the cultural heritage, including film heritage. The Film Heritage Recommendation 2005 invites the member states to systematically collect, catalogue, preserve, and restore Europe's film heritage.
Projects
ACE has initiated several film heritage projects funded by the European Union:
* LUMIERE (1991–1996), supported by MEDIA I programme.
* All the Colours of the World. Colours in early mass media 1900-1930 (1996–1997). Supported by KALEIDOSCOPE.
*Search For Lost Films (1997–1999), supported by RAPHAEL.
* FAOL – Film Archives On Line (1997–2000). Creation of web-based learning tools in the field of film preservation/restoration. Supported by LEONARDO.
* ARCHIMEDIA (1997–2004). European training network for the promotion of cinema heritage, supported by MEDIA II.
*FIRST – Film Restoration and Conservation Strategies (2002–2004). Research project on the application of digital techniques to film heritage. “Film Archives on the Threshold of a Digital Era”: Technical Issues from the EU FIRST Project. FIAF Journal of Film Preservation n° 68, 12/2004. IST - 5th Framework Programme.
* MIDAS – Moving Image Database for Access and Re-use of European Film Collections (2006–2009). The web portal
Filmarchives online
filmarchives online is a web gateway providing easy access to moving image collections from various European film archives. It allows the search throughout a growing number of individual archival databases. Since February 2007, catalogue informatio ...
gives access to catalogue information from film archives all over Europe.
* EDCINE – Enhanced Digital Cinema (2006–2009): Research and development of applications for storing, managing and distributing digitised archival films (IST 6th Framework Programme).
*EN 15744 and EN 15907: Cinematographic works standards on the interoperability of film databases (2005–2010). The standardization work was mandated in 2005 by the European Commission and delegated to CEN (European Committee for Standardization).
* The
European Film Gateway
The European Film Gateway (EFG) is a single access point to the digitized holdings of historical European film documents from numerous film archives and cinematheques, including over 600,000 individual objects from over 60 collections. The Europ ...
(2008–2011). The EFG Portal gives access to digitised films and film related material held in European film archives (eContentplus Programme).
* EFG1914: World War I Film digitisation project (2012–2014), supported by the ICT-Policy Support Programme.
* FORWARD: Framework for an EU wide Audiovisual Orphan Works Registry (2013-2016). The project develops a system for assessing the rights status of audiovisual works and a registry of
orphan film
An orphan film is a motion picture work that has been abandoned by its owner or copyright holder; also, any film that has suffered neglect.
History
The exact origin of the term orphan film is unclear. By the 1990s, however, film archivists were ...
compliant to the Directive 2012/28/EU. The project is co-funded by the ICT-Policy Support Programme.
* ABCinema is a joint project of Europeana film archives and film education organisations to share best practices and new approaches in film literacy.
*A Season of Classic Films (2019–today): a series of free screenings across Europe to raise awareness of the work of European film archives, with many new digital film restorations presented by the ACE participating film institutions - supported by the EU Creative Europe programme.
*ArteKino Classics (2022-today): a partnership between
ARTE
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...
and ACE to make European films and cinema history more visible and accessible to greater audiences by presenting a diverse programme of films by European archives.