By Robert Vaszari, Assistant Film Conservator at Media Preservation Services
Ask any university-based film archivist, film conservator, or audiovisual preservation specialist about their must-attend yearly conferences and chances are they’ll mention the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) annual conference held in late Fall. In a normal year, moving image archivists from across the globe make the trek to an interesting and vibrant city to share research, special projects, catch up with colleagues, and stay current with emerging trends in the field.
In 2020, owing to the restrictions imposed by the ongoing global pandemic, the conference went virtual for the first time. Though we lost the much-valued conference benefit of in-person interactions this year, moving into a shared online space gave conference-goers the ability to experience live virtual panels, engage in Zoom discussions among special interest committees, and even comment in real-time to the live-stream version of Archival Screening Night (in optionally viewed chatbox spaces only!). There is never enough time to attend all the events of interest at an AMIA conference, and this year’s virtual conference was no exception, but here are a few highlights to give a sampling of the various panels and events.
A major draw for AMIA conferences is the opportunity to learn what colleagues across the moving image archivist landscape are working on that can benefit the entire field, so the recurring session “Reports from the Field” was especially valuable. Of particular interest was an overview of a project by Brigham Young University Curator of Audiovisual Materials, Ben Harry, on Developing a Roadmap to Photochemical Film Materials. Ben is compiling a detailed glossary on the large variety of photochemical elements that archives may receive in motion picture film collections. Since the photochemical production of film involves many intermediary picture and sound elements, the materials an archive or library may receive from a collection can be daunting to identify. Based on his own experience processing a collection of production materials at Brigham Young Media Library, Ben Harry is working to create an openly shared glossary to help archivists identify key materials while processing collections, focusing on identifying motion picture production elements most suitable for preservation projects and access.
Access to collections not only deals with the physical preservation and presentation of moving image collections but also the often-daunting task of discerning ownership rights and use under U.S. copyright law. Therefore, another highlight of the conference was a panel discussion on providing greater legal access to Library and University collections called “Unlocking the Archive Through 108(H).” With the growing trend toward increasing access through the digitization of film and tape collections in university archives, it is more important than ever to use all the legal tools provided by US copyright law to ensure that users can more easily view and repurpose materials through the greater access that online platforms provide. Leading a discussion on how Copyright Law Section 108(h) allows libraries and archives to copy and make available works within their last 20 years of copyright, Dr. Elizabeth Townsend Garde of Tulane University Law School detailed specifically how to interpret the section to create greater opportunities for collections access. Following this overview, Mike Mashon, Head of the Moving Image Section at the Library of Congress, gave an in-depth review of how LOC is applying 108(H) to systematically identify titles from their vaults for future digitization projects, with the goal of open online access.
Continuing with this thread of digitization and online access to archival collections, no AMIA conference would be complete without the community coming together for Archival Screening Night. This year, screenings were pulled off successfully with the help of live streaming on Vimeo. Beautiful restoration projects were able to shine even through the online stream, including Milestone Film’s work on a visually striking film shot on 16mm to mimic a silent-era film production. The film, titled Man Without a World (1991), was restored digitally in 4K by film preservationist Ross Lipman. Screening highlights always feature a few oddball archival treasures, and this year included some great rediscoveries, such as a 4K restoration by Hungary’s NFI_FA of the film Incandescent Love (1939) which portrays the love between two stop motion animated lamps. The film was shot in the rare color process Gasparcolor by Hungarian stop motion animation innovator, Gyula Macskássy.
Overall, the transition to a virtual setting for the AMIA annual conference emerged as a valuable opportunity for professionals in the moving image archiving field to gather, share important projects, and create meaningful opportunities for future collaboration. The unprecedented virtual endeavor was well worth the time and effort put in by the association and conference board members to ensure that colleagues in the field could still gather and feel a sense of community during these especially isolating times.
