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©Mikko Kuutti

2024 Bangkok Symposium

Opening remarks and Panel 1 - FIAF Archives and the Restitution/Repatriation Debates : Toward a New Future for Global Cinema Heritage

Bangkok, 22 April 2024

Cinema has always been a powerful medium to transcend borders and offer insights into diverse cultures and perspectives. However, during the colonial era, cinema was introduced to the Global South through colonial influence, leading to a legacy of unequal access to film preservation infrastructure. As a result, many films from the Global South were post-produced and preserved in the Global North, creating disparities in film heritage preservation. Additionally, armed conflicts further contributed to the loss and dispersion of film collections. Today, archivists and institutions from both the Global South and North are collaborating to address these issues. FIAF, as a collective body dedicated to preserving the moving image, has the opportunity to lead a global, decolonized film archival movement. This panel aims to explore restitution and repatriation debates, featuring panelists from various regions who will discuss film heritage dispersion, cross-cultural preservation efforts, and strategies for achieving archival justice. Key questions include the digital era's impact on heritage return, challenges facing restitution advocates, and FIAF's role in shaping these debates.

Moderator : May Hong HaDuong (UCLA Film & Television Archive)

Please do not publish or re-use in any way any of these documents without prior permission of the speakers

Cecila Cenciarelli (Il Cinema Ritrovato Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna)

Aboubakar Sanogo (Carlton University; FEPACI)

Arike Oke (British Film Institute)

Markus Ruff (Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art)

Khadijeh Habashneh (former Head of the Archive and Cinematheque, Palestinian Cinema Institution)