FIAF Summer School 1996

This year, for the first time, five members of FIAT/IFTA had the chance to participate in the Summer School organised, since many years, by the International Federation of Film Archives - FIAF, for the training of film archive personnel. The FIAF Summer School 1996 took place in England, from June 16 to July 5 and it was organised, with much hospitality, by the National Film and Television Archive (UK), and successfully so, as all participants would have to admit.

Our comfortable accommodations in the quiet and beautiful guest house 'Old Jordan's', located in the country about one hour's journey out of London, as well as the warm reception and the continuous and sincere interest shown to us by all the key NFTVA/BFI staff were important factors for the success of the event.

The training programme took place mainly in the magnificent buildings of the J. Paul Getty Jr. Conservation Centre in Berkhamsted, an 'oasis' for all film archivists, but also in the very well organised offices of the BFI at Stephen Street in central London. The lectures and the lessons, as well as the practical training, were mainly related to the techniques of preservation and restoration of moving images and sound, as well as the development of digital technology as a means of preservation and improvement of audiovisual materials. Emphasis was also given to the history and philosophy of film archiving as well as to all the variety of substantial activities of archives: the acquisition of material, cataloguing, access and programming, copyright and legal deposit.

The lectures concerning technical matters were really delightful, clarifying, brief and valuable. Projections and demonstrations with comparisons of the results of the re-adjustment of image and sound, the development of all parameters for the avoidance of mistakes, answers to the questions we all had - simple or complex depending on the experience of each one of us - formed the lessons given by the distinguished specialists of the Conservation Centre in Berkhamsted, supervised by Dr. Henning Schou. The hours of practical training in the laboratories together with Joao Oliveira were also delightful (but, in my opinion, relatively few), and we participated in the printing and processing of film in the presence of Mr. Harold Brown, who has considerable knowledge and many years experience and who provided us with valuable information concerning the handling of film.

The lectures given in the offices of the BFI, regarding the archival activities mentioned above, were also very good and of much assistance; the availability of audiovisual material, copyright, legal deposit and cataloguing are some of the huge problems faced by all archives.

The Summer School programme was supplemented with interesting visits: a visit to the nitrate vaults - warehouses for storing inflammable film - in Gaydon; a very informative guided visit to Independent Television News - ITN (especially for the members of FIAT/IFTA); a visit to the National Film Theatre which included the projection and presentation of films; as well as to the Imperial War Museum's Film and Video Archive; a delightful visit to the cleverly organised Museum of the Moving Image; a visit to the Kodak Company and a presentation of their new film; and finally, the very interesting visit to the East Anglian Film Archive at Norwich. An archive very similar to the archives of many of the participants: minimum staff performing wonderful work using limited resources and unlimited faith and devotion.

The training programme closed on the evening of July 5 with a beautiful celebration with all key NFTVA/BFI staff. This wonderful event was not the only festivity during those three weeks. At this point I would like to mention the warm and friendly hospitality of the Curator at the NFTVA, Mr. Clyde Jeavons, as well as of all his associates.

The conclusions from my participation in the FIAF Summer School 1996 are overwhelmingly positive, but there are a few points to make:

• Yes, indeed, the programme was hard and pressing enough.
• Yes, indeed, some lectures which were not properly calculated as far as time was concerned might have been limited, or even eliminated.
• Yes, indeed, we all needed to be more flexible time-wise so that we might have attended the classes and the areas of professional interest we either preferred most or needed to attend.
• Yes, indeed, we were informed about new technological developments though some of us have not even got computerised cataloguing in our archives.

The knowledge, experience and rich information we acquired are useful tools in our future work. New ideas and the help in avoiding mistakes are of especially great value in archives under development, like ours.

Maybe the most important benefit for all of us who attended the Summer School was this wonderful idea of archivists being together, meeting and having contact, colleagues from almost all over the world, of different attitude, from different fields of specialisation, with different needs, but all with common goals and interests. All colleagues, both those coming from FIAF as well as us, the members of FIAT, felt that we 'speak the same language', and we discovered, at the same time, how common our problems are and of what great assistance the exchange of ideas and knowledge may be, offering both help and courage.

I believe that the creation of bridges between us, and the mutual friendships developed are valuable assets for all of us. At this point I would like to congratulate FIAT and FIAF for their cooperation on the FIAF Summer School 1996. I believe that this cooperation should also be continued in other training programmes, in other territories - as for example in the Balkans or in the Mediterranean area.

Finally, I would like to support the proposal made by the FIAT General Secretary, Mr. Steve Bryant, which was presented on July 5, in the lecture room of the J. Paul Getty Jr. Conservation Centre: a Summer School should also be organised by FIAT to which colleagues (members of FIAF) would also be invited.

Despina Zervou
Head of Audiovisual Archives
Archives and Museum Dpt.
E.R.T. S.A.