Journal of Film Preservation N° 56 - FIAF

present-day audiences these terms may function as formulas to allay
post-colonial feelings of guilt, to which this material doubtlessly appeals.
But such a response tells more about these audiences than about the
films, as such labels often completely ignore that the films in fact show
more than just colonialism - or what we think colonialism is. The films
may not have given a proper image of, or even a voice to, the people
filmed, but apart from documentating the fascinations and blind spots of
their beholders, they also retain traces of the situations, the encounters
in which they came about. These labels, in other words, don’t do justice
to the specific character of cinematic records. In contrast to, for instance,
written sources, filmed reports presuppose a direct contact with those
who are being filmed. For that reason, ‘colonialism’ or ‘imperialism’ are
awkward, abstract terms for these films, shorthand for a complex of factors,
forces and influences. While together these make up social, political,
and economic reality, this reality, it is assumed, only partly
determines the shape of actual contacts, both filmed and unfilmed.
The Amsterdam Workshop, an initiative of the Research Department of
the Nederlands Filmmuseum, is a festival-cum-conference in which, on
the basis of screenings of a selection of films from NFM’s collection, film
historical and -archival topics are addressed that have not been studied
closely or programmed extensively. What we want to realize with this
workshop is a re-animation, re-vision, and re-evaluation of this so-called
colonial material in an international context. With ‘The eye of the
beholder’ we want to contribute to the international ‘research agenda’
and bring together experts who have either been working in this area or
those whose views we think are worthwhile for discussing this topic. It
is our assumption, moreover, that as an archival source film has neither
been mined adequately nor exhaustively. The workshop, therefore, is
also an opportunity to stress the importance of film archives in general
for work in this area, not only for historians, but also for anthropologists,
social historians, etc.
Secondly, we want to make this material known and visible again. We
want to look for formats in which this material could be screened and
programmed in ways that are acceptable to present-day audiences, or
even challenging. After all, television documentaries and news programmes
especially have contributed to an hesitation, to say the least, in
showing this material.
Participation in the Amsterdam Workshop is exclusively by invitation.
The NFM prefers to keep the number of participants restricted in order
to guarantee fruitful discussion. However, in order to ensure ‘virtual participation’
by a larger audience, the discussions will be taped, edited and
published on the Internet soon after the Workshop.
3 Journal of Film Preservation / 56 / 1998
L’Atelier d’Amsterdam proposera des
projections et des conférences qui, autour
d’une sélection de films du NFM, abordera
ont des sujets d’histoire et d’archivistique qui
n’ont pas été étudiés ou programmés jusque
là. L’Atelier se propose une re-animation, une
re-vision et une re-évaluation de ce matériel
que l’on serait tenté de qualifier de colonial
dans le contexte international habituel.
La participation à l’Atelier est exclusivement
sur invitation. Pour permettre une participation
« virtuelle » plus large, les discussions
seront enregistrées, éditées et publiées sur
Internet.
La mirada del espectador
El Nederlands Filmmuseum organiza, del 22
al 25 de julio de 1998 su tercer Taller de
Amsterdam. Intitulado La Mirada del
espectador, éste tendra por objeto el estudio
de películas de la colección del NFM sobre
sociedades no occidentales y no urbanas
realizadas por directores occidentales para
públicos occidentales. El interés de estos
filmes, concebidos como meros productos de
diversión, reside sobre todo en el hecho que
documentan la manera de ver de estos
directores y de estos públicos, ilustrando así
los sentimientos, fantasías e ideas (preconcebidas)
sobre los temas filmados.
Una de les preguntas importantes a la que el
Taller procurará responder es : « ¿Qué
debemos, como archiveros, historiadores,
cineastas, hacer con este material hoy en
día ? ».
El Taller propondrá proyecciones y
conferencias y abordará temas de historia y
de archivística no estudiados o programados
hasta entonces. El Taller se propone una reanimación,
una re-visión y una re-evaluación
de material que se podria calificar un tanto
precipitadamente como colonial, en el
contxto internacional.
La participacion al Taller es exclusivamente
sobre invitación. Para facilitar una
participación « virtual » más amplia, las
discusiones seran grabadas, editadas y
difundidas por Internet.