Film Archive Forum

The Film Archive Forum's document Moving History defines public sector moving image archives as "repositories for the custody and preservation of, and access to, the history of our times as recorded on film, videotape and other moving image formats. Such archives contains works made by amateur and professional producers for cinema, television and other purposes. These archives encompass the history and culture of moving image media and respect the integrity of the works above any commercial or short term exploitation. These institutions operate for the public good on a 'not for profit' basis".

The wide range of the nation's moving image heritage is represented across the twelves archives in the Film Archive Forum. This encompasses feature films, television programmes, commercials, artists' film and video, experimental films, and a huge range of non-fiction films, including documentaries, newsreels, industrial films, educational films, political and campaigning films, actuality films, home movies and other amateur productions. The bfi National Film and Television Archive preserves the national collection of feature films, television programmes and non-fiction films. The Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive holds predominantly non-fiction films relating to conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth. The archives of Scotland, Wales and the English regions hold films relevant to their area. They are particularly strong in industrial films, home movies, advertising films, travelogues, student productions and local newsreels. Increasingly these archives are becoming repositories for local television production, recognised by the BBC and commercial television companies.

There are twelve public sector moving image archives in the UK: two covering the whole of the UK (the bfi National Film and Television Archive and the Imperial War Museum), one in Scotland, one in Wales, and eight across the English regions. To find your nearest film archive, see our Archives Map or the list of addresses and contact details given on the Members page. There are many other kinds of film collections in the UK - the fullest guide is that provided by the British Universities Film & Video Council, whose Researcher's Guide Online lists 550 moving image and sound collections in the UK.

The bfi National Film and Television Archive (NFTVA) and the eight regional film archives of England are dependent on revenue funding from the UK Film Council. The bfi is funded directly by the UK Film Council. The regional archives receive their core funding from the UK Film Council via the regional screen agencies. The national moving image archives of Scotland and Wales are funded through their respective develoved administrations. The Imperial War Museum receives funding direct from Government. The UK's public sector moving image archives also receive some revenue from commercial activity, and some are in receipt of project funding from bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the regional development agencies. A number of the regional archives receive support in kind through host universities and colleges.

The major source for film archive training in the UK is the MA in Film Studies with Film Archiving Option at the University of East Anglia. This course, established in the early 1990s, combines practical and critical elements of film history and archival practice. The one-year course is jointly-hosted by UEA and the East Anglian Film Archive. Students take two of the Film units plus two specialist units of archival training, produce a compilation videotape, and undertake a one-month archival placement. For further details, contact Jane Alvey at the EAFA, or visit the course web page.

In Europe, Archimedia organises a number of courses and seminars on aspects of film archiving. The Federation of International Film Archives (FIAF) organises a regular Summer school for film archivists. There are courses in America on film archiving at the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). Further information on all these is available from the FIAF web site. The Film Archive Forum is developing its own series of 'training days' for those working in UK moving image collections.

A web site with discussion forum has been set up those looking for volunteer work experience in film and sound archives, Volunteering in Audiovisual Archives.

London is currently the only English region without a dedicated public sector moving image archive. The bfi National Film and Television Archive has acted to some degree as a film archive for London, but action is now being undertaken by ALM London, the strategic body for archives, libraries and museums in London, to determine what regional film archive provision might be created for London. For further information on this development, see the ALM report Strengthening Regional Film Archive Provision for London.

Membership is open to any moving image archive that subscribes to the objectives of the Forum. New and developing public sector moving image archives are granted Emerging Member status, pending Full Membership. Such archives may be invited to attend a meeting of the Film Archive Forum as an observer, in the first instance. Bodies or archives which are less directly concerned with moving images in the UK, but which have an interest in the Forum’s objectives, may be invited to attend meetings as Observer members.

A number of the Film Archive Forum archives now have all or part of their databases accessible online. Links to all of these can be found on the Databases page on this site. There is no unified catalogue for all our collections, but the practicalities of such a catalogue are being discussed. A number of the archives have also produced printed catalogues for parts of their collections. In general, the English regional archives and the national collections of Scotland and Wales will hold films and videotapes that relate to their particular area. The National Film and Television Archive tolds materials on most subjects, while the Imperial War Museum Film and Video Archive holds materials relating to Britain's military heritage, especially the First and Second World Wars. For contact details, see the Members page.

Most 35mm film dating before 1951 will have a cellulose nitrate base. Cellulose nitrate film is chemically unstable and highly flammable. It catches fire easily, burns very quickly, and because it does not need oxygen in the air to keep on burning it is very difficult to put out a nitrate fire. If you believe that you have a piece of nitrate film, you should contact your nearest specialist film archive. In the meanwhile, the nitrate film should be kept cool, stored in a vented container and away from other reels of acetate (safety) film. For further advice, see the Guidance notes on this site, or download the Health & Safety Executive's leaflet The Dangers of Cellulose Nitrate Film. Do note, however, that virtually all post-1951 film, and almost all amateur gauges such as 8mm, Super 8, 9.5mm and 16mm will be safety stock (acetate or polyester base), and is not hazardous.

Public sector moving archives do not, in general, own the materials in their collections. In a few cases they may own a particular collection (for example, the bfi National Film and Television Archive owns the Topical Budget newsreel) or they may have been granted limited exploitation rights (e.g. showing certain films non-theatrically without having to pay a fee). But in most cases the films will be the property of an outside rights holder. Where such ownership rights exist, the archive cannot produce a copy without the permission of the rights-holder, and this may entail a cost additional to any video transfer costs. Nevertheless, many Film Archive Forum members have produced videotapes, usually of locally-produced films, which are available for sale from those archives and some local retail outlets. For details, see our Videotapes and DVDs section. A growing number of film clips from Film Archive Forum members' collections are being made available on the Internet, through sites such as Moving History. For links to these, see our Web sites section.