Journal of Film Preservation N° 60/61 - FIAF

made and time has come to look seriously at the possibilities for
restoring tinted and/or toned versions, and to thoroughly discuss the
different methods for doing so.
From the nitrate part of the sound era the archive holds the nitrate
negatives and has made masters on acetate. But since this transfer
began in the fifties there is today a need to look at the material,
especially since the archival conditions have been shockingly far
from ideal. Furthermore we are making prints of the important films
not available on 35mm.
As for the short films and documentaries, newsreels etc. the situation
is more critical. We do not have a proper overview of the collection
and its condition, although we have transferred obvious important
films threatened by nitrate disintegration to acetate.
Acetate
The Danish film archive’s collection of prints of Danish sound feature
films is close to complete. The negatives are mostly still at
laboratories and it is a priority to go through our collection,
comparing it to the actual production, try to get hold of the few we
do not have and trace the negatives and collect them or produce a
master. The same goes for colour films: we need to go through the
negatives at laboratories and compare with our own material. But
instead of starting alphabetically or chronologically we have decided
to prioritise our effort. That means we have constructed a top 100
list of Danish feature films from which we will start to locate and
collect negatives or preserve by making a master.
For our collection of shorts and documentaries we have the same
situation as for the nitrate material: we do not have a proper
inventory but we know it is far from complete. A priority is to
establish an inventory and start systematically to locate material and
collect it for safeguarding. Like the feature films project we will start
out with a prioritised list selecting three of the more historically and
artistically important documentary filmmakers and go through their
work, locating material and inspecting it.
The future
In 1999 we signed a four year contract with the ministry, which
meant that the archive would get an increase of about 75% of the
budget over the next four years, also for new staff. In return we are
to fulfil defined goals put up by ourselves. Furthermore the ministry
accepted as a precondition that new and better archival facilities were
central to our ability to fulfil our obligations. So until 2002 we are
planning to work out a technical survey on the overall condition of
the collection of film and to prepare a preservation plan as well as
increase the number of secured and/or restored films. Just to
mention the issues central for this article. This preservation plan will
have both a technical and a film historical parameter to define our
prioritised effort.
The technical survey is the first necessary step in order to prepare a
5 Journal of Film Preservation / 60/61 / 2000
Los archivos cinematográficos en los
países nórdicos
El futuro de los archivos cambia con las
nuevas tecnologías al mismo tiempo que los
hábitos de consumo modifican nuestra
manera de ver las películas. Nuevos
materiales y nuevos lugares de consumo
permiten a un mayor número de personas
ver las películas a través del mundo y en un
medio que no se limita ya exclusivamente a
las salas de proyección. En este contexto,
resulta importante reconsiderar el rol de los
archivos cinematográficos y retornar al
pasado para obtener una mejor visión de lo
que nos depara el futuro.
Esta recopilación, editada por Dan Nissen
del Danish Film Institute, propone un
balance global de la situación de los archivos
cinematográficos en Suecia, Dinamarca,
Finlandia y Noruega, que están
implementando un programa con el objeto
de rescatar y salvaguardar su acervo
audiovisual.
Cada informe presenta la historia del
archivo, el inventario de las películas
restauradas, ya sean de ficción,
documentales o corto-metrajes, en soporte
nitrato o acetato, así como la descripción de
las tareas que se deben iniciar y los
problemas que quedan por resolver.