Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

In Memoriam Maryann Gomes
Janet McBain
In Memoriam
Hommage rendu par deux collègues
qui ont connu et travaillé pendant de
longues années avec Maryann Gomes,
Directrice de la North West Film
Archive (15 août 1954 - 2 juin 2002).
Janet McBain fait la biographie de
Maryann et nous rappelle qu’elle est
née à Glasgow, de parents indiens,
qu’elle a fait ses études à la Loreto
Grammar School de Manchester, à la
University of London, et à Leeds
Polytechnic et qu’elle a suivi une
formation de pédagogie des
disciplines artistiques et de l’histoire
de l’art. Après son parcours au
Manchester City Art Galleries Service
et au Manchester Polytechnic, elle fût
nommée en 1983 conservatrice de la
North West Film Archive. Elle
deviendra ainsi pionnière de la
conservation du patrimoine régional
en Grande Bretagne. Maryann a
toujours su combiner une exigence
professionnelle extrême avec un sens
de l’humour et une joie de vivre
communicatifs.
Roger Smither met en évidence le
travail infatigable de Maryann en
faveur de la reconnaissance mondiale
de la collection régionale de son
archive et souligne son mérite d’être
entré à la FIAF à une époque (1995) où
le règlement ne permettait en
principe pas l’adhésion des candidats
travaillant au niveau national. Sa
participation au Symposium de
Cartagena a ouvert la voie de
l’acceptation des films documentaires
au sein de la FIAF. Sa contribution à
l’ouverture de la FIAF en 2000 a été
déterminante. Sa lutte pour la cause
des archives régionales était encore
plus passionnée à la Conférence de
AMIA à Miami en 1998 où son exposé
“La richesse des régions, ou projeter
une image globale du 20ème siècle »
a servi de préambule à ses
interventions à Montréal en 1999, et à
Los Angeles en 2000. La vie de
Maryann contredit ceux qui pensent
que dans notre ère de plus en plus
bureaucratique, personne ne pourra
Maryann Gomes, Director of the North West Film Archive, born 15 August
1954; died 2 June 2002. We present hereafter the texts of two colleagues
that have known her for a long time.
A night at the pictures presented by
Maryann Gomes confounded pleasurably
two sets of stereotypes. That historical
factual film albeit worthy and
educational can also be entrancing,
entertaining, revealing and viewed with
affection and humour, and that archivists
can be lively and energetic, passionate
and extrovert as well as knowledgeable
about their collections.
Born in Glasgow of Goanese parents, she
was educated at Loreto Grammar School,
Manchester, the University of London,
and Leeds Polytechnic, training in the
teaching of art and art history. After
educational posts for Manchester City Art
Maryann Gomes, 1954 – 2002
Galleries Service and Manchester
Polytechnic, where she developed
interests in both social history and film, in 1983 she became curator of
the North West Film Archive, one of the pioneering regional film
collections to emerge in England in the mid 1970s. Maryann rose to the
challenge of developing the film collection to reflect the history of the
region and earning for local productions a hitherto neglected place in
the canon of British cinema history.
Maryann’s presentational style reflected her personality - her passion
for the subject, her affection for the images and their recording of
ordinary peoples’ lives and her determination that the films would be
available for future generations to understand and enjoy. Throughout
her tenure as Curator, later Director, of the Archive she fought hard to
preserve and develop the archive’s role of acquisition, preservation and
access, activities which were maintained in good part through stalwart
support from Manchester Metropolitan University, despite a dispiriting
lack of statutory core funding and fluctuating staffing levels.
She acquired new skills in marketing management to equip herself
with the tools of fund raising which in recent years of necessity would
occupy the greater proportion of her time. Successes in this field came
about due to her determination, tenacity and drive, attributes that
carried over into every aspect of her life. As a colleague she was
challenging, stimulating and demanded the highest standards in
everything, yet she was also delightful, funny and the most welcome of
companions on any occasion.
58 Journal of Film Preservation / 65 / 2002