The Vatican Film Library is a
film archive
An archive is an accumulation of Historical document, historical records or Historical source, materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated ove ...
established in 1959 by Pope
John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
. The collection comprises over 8,000 films including historic films, Church events, commercial films and documentaries.
It is to be distinguished from the
Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library at
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...
.
History
The Vatican Film Library was instituted by Pope John XXIII on November 16, 1959, with the aim of collecting and preserving films and recorded television programs on the life of the Catholic Church. It was initially entrusted to the then Pontifical Commission for Cinematography, which in 1964 became the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications and in 1988 the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Today the Vatican Film Library is part of the
Dicastery for Communication
The Dicastery for Communication (, ) is a department (dicastery) of the Roman Curia with authority over all communication offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Its various offices can be accessed through its website. These are the ...
.
The library's projection hall hosted
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
on several occasions, along with numerous directors presenting a preview of their works, including
Liliana Cavani
Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature film ''Il portiere di notte'' ('' The Night Porter''). Her films have historical concerns ...
,
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni ( , ; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing, and starring in the Holocaust comedy drama film ''Life Is Beautifu ...
, and
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
.
See also
*
List of film archives
This is a list of film archives and cinematheques. Film archives collect, restore, investigate and conserve audiovisual content like films, documentaries, television programs and newsreel footage. Often, a country has its own film archive to pre ...
*
Index of Vatican City-related articles
Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index''
* The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
*
Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
*
The Vatican Splendors
*
Vatican Secret Archives
*
Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
References
Film archives in Europe
Archives in Vatican City
{{film-org-stub