The Endangered Heritage
- the lack of adequate legal deposit provisions, which ensure that films are deposited and properly preserved in archives in the public interest
- the chemical decomposition of the films themselves.
Whether on nitrate or acetat stock, whether silent or sound, whether black-and-white or colour, films have to be collected, preserved and restored to high professional standards which only archives can achieve. There is growing awareness of this in the audio-visual industry, among television programmers, producers of programmes using archive material, distributors and exhibitors of classic films. And there is growing demand for access to archival collections and the expertise of cultural public institutions. Film archives have become valuable service providers - sometimes avidly sought.
Although most national governments try to fulfil their internal archiving responsibilities, the sum of these endeavours is not enough. There is crucial need for a collective effort to enable the archives - technically, financially and legally - to halt the decay and loss of the films in their care and to guarantee wider access to their holdings. And for this to happen requires political and financial support on a wide European basis.
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