02/12/2002

Expert film archivists from all over Europe gathered in Paris on 29 and 30 November for a two-day conference on a ”European Study into European Film Archives” in Paris.
Organised by the national French archive, the dall’ European Film Library Association (ACE), and BiFi (the Library of Film), the event was the perfect opportunity for those taking part to examine the current state of Europe’s film heritage. The programme included a number of round-table discussions, chaired by the BiFi’s Marc Fernet, covering issues as wide-ranging as “the conservation of films”, “the end of the silent era and the advent of DVD”, “the transformation to digital and the consequences on film preservation training and its valorisation of “heritage and copyright”, “theatrical exhibition, new criteria and new professions”.
Keynote speeches were made by some of European cinema’s major industry players like CNC director David Kessler, Gabrielle Claes, the director of Belgium’s Royal Film Library, Claude-Eric Poiroux, director of Europa Cinemas, Damon McCollin-Moore of British Film Institute, Jean-Charles Tacchella the president of the FrenchFilm Library, the Bologna Film Library’s Gianluca Farinelli and Sergio Tofetti on behalf of Rome’s National Film School’s (SNC). Given the pan-European context, the need to organise Europe’s film libraries could not be more urgent.

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(Translated from French)