The Review/ Video/
Reel Heritage: Film Archives and Scholarship
Featuring leading figures in the field of libraries, archives, film and new media, this panel discussion examined how moving image–based collections are utilized in the creation of new scholarship and media projects.
Launched in November 2014 as a joint initiative of TIFF Higher Learning and the Film Reference Library, the Reel Heritage programme seeks to engage and educate audiences about the importance of the preservation of the film medium. Made possible through support from the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and TIFF's community of donors and members, Reel Heritage brings post-secondary students together with film scholars, archivists, filmmakers and curators in a series of free educational sessions that examine the challenges and the opportunities facing moving-image collections in Ontario and beyond.
The Film Archives and Scholarship panel—Reel Heritage's inaugural event—brought together leading figures in the field of libraries, archives, film and new media. Each panelist examined how scholars, researchers, filmmakers, and cultural institutions utilize archives, libraries and special collections in the creation of new scholarship and media projects.
Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive, delivered a case study on L.A. Rebellion programme that illustrated the archive's role in preserving, programming and touring archival collections; filmmaker Ron Mann discussed his use of archives in creating his documentary Altman; and Janine Marchessault, Professor and Trudeau Fellow, Director at Sensorium, Centre for Digital Arts and Technology, York University, demonstrated the relationship between archives and local histories highlighting such curatorial endeavours as The Leona Drive: Sub/Urban Adventures in Willowdale. The discussion was moderated by Sylvia Frank, Director of the TIFF Film Reference Library.
This Higher Learning event was held on November 14, 2014 at TIFF Bell Lightbox.