CINEMATEKET: Om Svenska Filminstitutets arkiv- & filmklubbsverksamhet 1963–1982
(2024) ABMM34 20241Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Abstract
- The purpose of this study is to develop a further understanding of how the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) made both Swedish and international film history available through cinema screenings of older films. This MA thesis is a textual analysis and archival driven research study which centers on the SFI's film archival activities in general and their film club in particular, during the period between 1963 and 1982. Created in 1963 through a never-before-seen film policy agreement between the film industry and the Swedish government, SFI overnight became the most powerful actor in the Swedish film arena. film arena. The so-called film agreement foremost concerned the production of new film, but also included managing other film related... (More)
- The purpose of this study is to develop a further understanding of how the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) made both Swedish and international film history available through cinema screenings of older films. This MA thesis is a textual analysis and archival driven research study which centers on the SFI's film archival activities in general and their film club in particular, during the period between 1963 and 1982. Created in 1963 through a never-before-seen film policy agreement between the film industry and the Swedish government, SFI overnight became the most powerful actor in the Swedish film arena. film arena. The so-called film agreement foremost concerned the production of new film, but also included managing other film related activities, film archival activities among them. A film club was also created to screen older films. This thesis analyzes archival documents including internal and external communication, activity reports, program sheets and a sample of official documents during the period of the study, an empirical material that previous research has scarcely worked with. Through a historical account of the film archive and film club activities, the thesis identifies several key aspects which affected how SFI made both Swedish and international film history available through cinema screenings of older films. These aspects are studied through the lens of film archival identity derived from a combination of archival- and film theory. The results can be described as a plethora of minor facets which among many things included how the film archive and film club was bound to both the film industry and foreign film archives, all in order to be able to preserve and screen films. This MA thesis concludes that the film club had an educational and context-oriented approach within their film screenings which aimed to display and/or increase the artistic value of (specific) films. The appraisal of films to preserve and screen was due to both the risk of decomposition and the artistic value, derived from a concept of quality, a central notion within the 1963 film agreement. The preservation activities of the archive were at times opposed to the screening activities of the film club. The narrow range of films which was screened were internally and publicly debated and affected the film club’s form and activities. The exponential growth of the film club's activities eventually became a burden and led to the questioning of both the working environment and the purpose of the film club. Furthermore, the thesis concludes that SFI acted from a position of authority towards other actors within the film archival area in Sweden. Yet, at the same time, that position was reversed in the international context of foreign film archives. At the end of the period of this study, the technological development through the introduction of video put the conservative perspective on film as a material artifact into question. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9155402
- author
- Runmark, Henrik LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The Cinematheque: About the Swedish Film Institute's archive & film club activities 1963–1982
- course
- ABMM34 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Swedish Film Institute, film archive, film club, access, film history
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9155402
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-24 08:37:42
- date last changed
- 2024-06-24 08:37:42
@misc{9155402,
abstract = {{The purpose of this study is to develop a further understanding of how the Swedish Film Institute (SFI) made both Swedish and international film history available through cinema screenings of older films. This MA thesis is a textual analysis and archival driven research study which centers on the SFI's film archival activities in general and their film club in particular, during the period between 1963 and 1982. Created in 1963 through a never-before-seen film policy agreement between the film industry and the Swedish government, SFI overnight became the most powerful actor in the Swedish film arena. film arena. The so-called film agreement foremost concerned the production of new film, but also included managing other film related activities, film archival activities among them. A film club was also created to screen older films. This thesis analyzes archival documents including internal and external communication, activity reports, program sheets and a sample of official documents during the period of the study, an empirical material that previous research has scarcely worked with. Through a historical account of the film archive and film club activities, the thesis identifies several key aspects which affected how SFI made both Swedish and international film history available through cinema screenings of older films. These aspects are studied through the lens of film archival identity derived from a combination of archival- and film theory. The results can be described as a plethora of minor facets which among many things included how the film archive and film club was bound to both the film industry and foreign film archives, all in order to be able to preserve and screen films. This MA thesis concludes that the film club had an educational and context-oriented approach within their film screenings which aimed to display and/or increase the artistic value of (specific) films. The appraisal of films to preserve and screen was due to both the risk of decomposition and the artistic value, derived from a concept of quality, a central notion within the 1963 film agreement. The preservation activities of the archive were at times opposed to the screening activities of the film club. The narrow range of films which was screened were internally and publicly debated and affected the film club’s form and activities. The exponential growth of the film club's activities eventually became a burden and led to the questioning of both the working environment and the purpose of the film club. Furthermore, the thesis concludes that SFI acted from a position of authority towards other actors within the film archival area in Sweden. Yet, at the same time, that position was reversed in the international context of foreign film archives. At the end of the period of this study, the technological development through the introduction of video put the conservative perspective on film as a material artifact into question.}},
author = {{Runmark, Henrik}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{CINEMATEKET: Om Svenska Filminstitutets arkiv- & filmklubbsverksamhet 1963–1982}},
year = {{2024}},
}