JANUARY
2004
NUMBER
5
National Library Film and Video Lending Collection
This
collection, as most of you know, has been the mainstay of Film society
programmes for many years. Almost six years ago, the collection left the
Library and was sent to Melbourne to be curated and administered by CINEMEDIA.
All went
well until last year, when first Elizabeth Barnard (Administrator) and then
Amree Hewitt and Donna Mann (Acquisitions) resigned from ACMI (previously
CINEMEDIA). These resignations preceded a total reorganization at ACMI, which
came to fruition late in the year when the entire Collections division was
closed down, many people lost their jobs, and others resigned. Only
Cataloguing and the technical staff escaped unscathed. This loss of staff also
affected the ACMI lending collection as well as the NFVLC. The reason behind
all this was a serious over budget
loss by ACMI of some 2 Million Dollars. The policy was to close down the
collections area and keep spending on Federation Square and its futuristic
presentations. At this point, of the people generally known to Film Societies,
only Gaye Naismith (Cataloguing), Michael Fairley (Technical) and Sarah
Wallace (Admin) are remaining.
In June the
government, in its wisdom, gave custodianship of the Film and Sound Archive
(ScreenSound) to the Australian Film Commission. We were assured that the
integrity of the Archive would be maintained. In November the AFC announced
sweeping changes to the Archive, arbitrarily dismissing six of the senior
staff along with all managers in Sydney and Melbourne. The proposals for the
‘new’ Archive reduced it to a mere department of the AFC. In the Review,
which announced these changes, the AFC mentioned that its new screening
programme would take into account possession of the National Collection. This
use of the Collection was not stated but only hinted at in its Stage Two
Directions Paper.
Also in
November the National Library let it be known to only a very few people that
it intended to divest itself of the Collection by the end of June 2004. ACMI,
at this time in the midst of its reorganization, had neither the resources nor
the will to talk to the Library, and more or less forfeited its claim to
keeping the films. Since then, in the last few weeks, ACMI has changed its
stance and has started a campaign to hang on to the Collection. However, the
Library is well on the way to handing everything over to the Archive.
The Archive
of course has no infrastructure capable of running a lending servicehich
caters for at least 700 loans per month. The Cultural Branch of the AFC is in
an even worse position to handle a lending service.
I am writing
a submission to the AFC (the second) regarding this matter. I am also in touch
with the Board and senior managers at ACMI, senior managers at ScreenSound and
the National Library. You can be assured that everything that can be done is
in hand. In the meantime ACMI will not confirm bookings beyond the end of May
but will in fact take these bookings without guarantee to the end of the year.
Speak to Sarah Wallace when you ring bookings through. Come to the ACOFS AGM
and Conference 19th to 21st of March to hear the latest
in this saga.
John
Turner
Whilst all
this was happening Leanne Hall has been manfully trying to obtain new titles.
I am pleased to announce that four of these are purchased and should arrive
during February. They are;
Y
TU MAMA TAMBIEN 2002 MEXICO 105MIN
BEIJING BICYCLE 2001 CHINA 113MIN
TOGETHER 2001 SWEDEN 106MIN
ATANARJUAT THE FAST RUNNER 2000 CAN 172MIN
19th 20th 21st
March
ACMI Federation Square
MELBOURNE VICTORIA.
COME ALONG
AS AN OBSERVER FOR SATURDAY 20TH WHEN WE WILL HAVE PEOPLE TO SPEAK
ABOUT THE NATIONAL COLLECTION. EVERYONE WELCOME.