Papers

This web-page provides essays, lecture transcripts, policy papers and conversations on topics that are central to the work of film museums and archives – and to the rapidly changing field of moving image culture in general. These materials document various contributions by Film Museum staff members to ongoing debates: How does a museum address basic questions of Film Curatorship, and how can they be examined more precisely in the context of the digital era?

 

The mission of a film museum is to preserve and exhibit its collections – and the film medium in general – while also contributing to research, education and other dissemination activities. These spheres of museum work are being highlighted in different ways by the contributions on this page. What are the basic notions that shape the practice of film presentation in a museum, and what exactly do we exhibit – beyond the individual work itself? What do we mean by film preservation and how is it achieved? What is the difference between "restoring" a film and restoring it "to life"? Which areas of research does the Film Museum focus on, in order to help expand the knowledge of film history and the general notion of what film is? What are the specific contributions that museums and archives can offer to the expanding field of film and media education?

 

The purpose of such questions is not only to help formulate the guidelines for this specific institution, but also to provide a holistic perspective on film as a medium. The texts that are being made available here document ways of thinking about film and the film heritage in the face of radical mutations across the cultural field. We believe that in order to engage more decisively with the political discourses in this field, film museums and archives today are obliged to add such a "reflective" – and interventionist – layer to their traditional functions.

 

Film, the Museum and Digital Culture

 

Alexander Horwath: "Dear Tacita"

 

Andrea Glawogger, Alexander Horwath: "Film und die digitale Kultur"

 

Alexander Horwath: "Persistence and Mimicry"

 Link to Video

 

"Ich will das jetzt nicht als Purismus verstanden wissen." Conversation with Alexander Horwath

Link to Interview (German only)

 

Programming and Presentation

 

Alexander Horwath: "A Sound Selection"

 

Alejandro Bachmann: "On Air - Eine Sprossen- und Zackenschrift des 20. Jahrhunderts"

 Link to article (German only)

 

Alejandro Bachmann: "Don't Believe the Hype - Cinema as a Political Space"

 

Conservation and Restoration

 

Matteo Lepore: "Digital Film Restoration Policy"

 

Paolo Caneppele: "Durch die Finger schauen - Redewendungen der digitalen Welt"

 

Education

 

Michael Loebenstein: "'Lebende Ausstellung', Wunderkammer, Notation. Über das Filmmuseum als Ort der Filmvermittlung"

 

Alejandro Bachmann: "Sequenziell denken. Zur Historizität von Filmvermittlung - Zwei Aspekte"

 

Alejandro Bachmann: "Zug fahren - Filmvermittlung im Kontext des Filmmuseums"

 Link to Article (German only)

 

Film and the Art World

 

Alexander Horwath: "Umbrauste Ware"

 

Conversations

 

"Suche nach idealen Bedingungen" - Conversation between Alexander Horwath, Siri Peyer, and Wolf Schmelter

 Link to Interview (German only)

 

"Archäologie und Avantgarde" - Conversation between Volker Pantenburg, Alexander Horwath, and Michael Loebenstein

 Link to interview (German only)

 

"Film als performativer Akt" - Conversation between Vinzenz Hediger and Alexander Horwath

 

"On Programming and Comparative Cinema" - Conversation between Alexander Horwath, Olaf Möller and Álvaro Arroba

 Link to interview