African Unification Front
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CINEMA RESOURCES IN THE AFRICAN UNION
AFRICAN LIBRARY OF OUAGADOUGOU
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Although there are many fine film resource institutions all across Africa, (especially at universities) problems of access to film are still a major concern.
The African Library of Ouagadougou was founded in 1989 on the 20th Anniversary of FESPACO. On the 1973 initiative of the Federation of Pan-African Filmakers, the library for African films includes:
-a collection of more than 160 copies of 16mm and 35mm films;
-a centre for the conservation of films openred in March 1995 that is equiped for verification, cleaning, editing and viewing of films;
-a special storage room has been constructed to hold over 10,000 reels of film in controlled atmospheric conditions conducive to conservation;
-a documentation centre with over 3000 photographs, hundreds of film posters, press releases, reviews, books, scripts, etc;
-an archivist; a projection room;
-and a structure for continual acquisition of new material.
The Library aims to:
-To collect relevant films;
-To provide treatment, conservation, and issue-specific catalogueing of films open to researchers and professionals within the field of the audio-visual;
-create inventories and catagues of the heritage of African Cinema;
-to elaborate the filmography of the African Union;
-to construct a projection room combined exposition space for film and
-television markets, cinema museums, etc;
-to create and develop a documentation centre and an information bank
-comprising of donated documentation on African Cinema;
-To assure African cinema permanent visibility;
-to stimulate reflection and research into indigenous African Cinema;
-to provide archival footage on Africa for academic research seeking a better understanding of contemporary African history.
- to provide professional filmmakers with an inextinguishable source of inspiration
- to use the projection room in the African Film Library for the screening of retrospective programs and for various exhibitions to promote the general publlic understanding of cinematography.
The African Film Library benefits from the support of numerous partners:
Federation of Pan-African Filmmakers, African and European countries (France, Denmark, Great Britain), International institutions and organisations (European Union, the Francophone Agency (ex The Agengy for Cultural & Technical Cooperation), Organisation of African Unity, International Federation of Film Archives etc), National Centre of Cinematography (France), Foundation of South Screens, etc.
The African Film Library responds to the call made by filmmakers and cultural defenders to Safeguard the cultural heritage of Africa.
The professionals working within cinema and film-making who participated in the international forum on African Cinema (21-24 Febrary, 1994) under the auspices of FEPACI, call on all African filmmakers to provide the African Film Library with a copy of their films.
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