European Film Archives President Calls For Greater Public Access to Classic Films

European Film Archives President Calls For Greater Public Access to Classic Films

Sandra den Hamer — the president of the Association of European Film Archives and Cinematheques (ACE) — recently called for European film archives to make classic European films more available to the public at lower prices.

In a discussion between representatives of European film institutes at the Lumière Film Festival’s International Classic Films Market (MIFC), on Thursday, den Hamer noted that many small show rooms are subject to steep charges from rights holders for screening old films.

“In many occasions we have reasonable fees and agreements and collaborations, but in some cases not,” den Hamer explained. “I’m not talking about the Netherlands, but I know from some of our members, European cinematheques, quite small cinematheques, that have to pay high fees, like €2,000 [$2,346] for one screening of a film in a cinematheque where you can have 25 visitors. That’s not very reasonable” said den Hamer. “And in those cases it’s even about films that are in the archives. So the films are being kept and preserved by the archives, but if you want to play them, you have to pay a fee. So it’s a matter of making a European framework [in order to] solve this.”

Den Hamer suggested the creation of a common framework for all of European film cinematheques and archives that would make it easier to screen films for cultural and educational purposes, which would include free screenings under certain circumstances, particularly for students and film scholars, and in other circumstances paid admission for the public.

Den Hamer added that rights holders should cooperate with film institutes, whose role it is to safeguard film heritage. “We need each other – we are not enemies. We should partner in this to make it possible to show European film heritage to everybody.” In pursuit of that goal, ACE launched its Season of Classic Films program last year. As part of the initiative, many of Europe’s most iconic cultural venues screened classic films, sometimes free of charge to over 15,000 viewers in 13 different countries.

The second Season of Classic Films is scheduled for the winter of 2020/2021 across Europe to raise awareness of the film archives, especially among young people. Most of the films are digital restorations and some will include contemporary audio visual effects.

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