About the Film

“Those who confuse the action of cinematheques with nostalgia are mistaken”

(Paulo Emilio Sales Gomes - Brazil, 1982)

Film, the Living Record of Our Memory allows a unique and rare approach to the often troubled life story of moving images. Film professionals and film archivists, significant voices that are not usually heard despite their vast knowledge and passion for film, reveal their points of view. Their narrative guides us through the major setbacks, surprises or changes motion pictures have experienced: the evolution of film technology; film’s vulnerability to loss, damage and decay; the creation of film archives and cinematheques; the fragility of digital data; restoration projects; and the growing field of film and digital preservation, which protects and celebrates moving images as cultural heritage.

“When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
’Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity”

(From Sonnet 55, William Shakespeare, 1609)