Film:ReStored_01. The Film Heritage Festival

The Deutsche Kinemathek’s four-day festival Film:ReStored presented cinema premieres of digitally restored films from six decades of German film history. The screenings were accompanied by a conference with presentations, panel discussions and workshop round-tables focusing on the preservation of film heritage in the digital era. The archives of Deutscher Kinematheksverbund (an association of German cinematheques) showcased digitalized examples, providing insights into both the technical possibilities and the decision-making involved when transferring analogue material to the digital realm. Ethical and aesthetic questions were addressed and put into context by experts from Germany and abroad. One of the festival’s most important topics focused on the status and the preservation of (analog) originals after digitization. Taking reproducibility as a characteristic feature of the film medium into consideration, for the future it must still be clarified which media formats can be regarded as “originals” and how they should be treated as archival objects and/or as references for further duplication. Stable criteria for a sustainable digital policy can ultimately be built from this foundation, which now represents one of the biggest cultural challenges of our times. In addition to the pleasure of being able to enjoy film classics and other rediscoveries in the best viewing quality, Film:ReStored also dedicated itself to this key issue. Introductory comments and talks with participants supplemented the screenings.

In cooperation with the Kinematheksverbund and the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF)