FOCAL International isareproud to continue its Mentoring Programme, designed to provide guidance and support to individuals looking to grow their careers in the archive industry. The programme will run from February 2023 to September 2023 and will consist of a combination of online and (where possible) in-person mentoring sessions.

What do we offer?

A well-matched mentor and mentee
An induction event for the mentors and mentees to get to know each other
A speed-mentoring session where all the mentors and mentees can meet
A suggested timeline to follow
Ongoing support throughout the programme
A virtual networking event in July
Invitation to FOCAL's Members Day in September
Discounted entry to Industry Events where available

What does the mentor offer?

6 hours of mentoring over 6 months
Their expertise and knowledge within the archive industry
Feedback and encouragement for questions
Ongoing support to the mentee

What does the mentee offer?

6 hours of dedicated time over 6 months
An open and willing attitude to learn
A new perspective into the archive industry
A proactive attitude
Dedication to the programme
Closing feedback

This is a unique opportunity for individuals looking to break into the film footage world and establish a successful career in the archive industry. If you are driven and dedicated to your professional growth, the FOCAL Mentoring Programme is for you.

n June 2022, the FIAF Commissions announced a new series of online workshops covering  a wide range of topics discussed in FIAF. The first three of these workshops, hosted by the Cataloguing and Documentation Commission, took place between September and November 2022.
The basic idea is rooted in what libraries have done for some time now and which is called Library Carpentry. Rather than inviting external experts, trained people from libraries teach each other basic concepts which will also revolve around data literacy (introductions to Open Refine, Python, GitHub etc.). We could expand that format and think of other ones to accompany this very technical focus.

We also want to address current debates revolving around sustainability, long term archiving and online presentation. How can we digitise, archive and present digital media by taking questions of rights, formats and the environment into consideration?

The workshops are planned as virtual events for the moment and might later be extended to in-person events.

Possible formats include presentations plus a panel discussion and hands-on teaching. More can be developed as we gain experience. We don’t aim at experts. Usually, no previous experience is required. Advanced levels are marked as such and will provide knowledge for those who want to explore topics into more depths. The number of participants vary depending on the nature of the specific workshop, but is generally be limited to enhance knowledge transfer and discussion. No fee is charged, but participants have to register and places are limited. Information on how and when to register will be posted on the FIAF website.

The course
This two-day course will provide a solid introduction to the technology that is essential both to the understanding of the items held in film archives and to their stewardship in the digital world. It will cover film technology from its inception to the present day, along with an overview of television and video technology. It will also deal with the digital technology relevant to audiovisual archives, including digitization and digital acquisition. Strategic approaches to preservation of both analogue and digital media will be addressed.

The course will consist of lectures, demonstrations, and some hands-on practice, and will be presented by experts from FIAF and from the National Film Institute Hungary.

Who should attend
The course is aimed at archive curators who need a comprehensive grounding in audiovisual technology in order to better manage preservation, digitisation and access, as well as film technicians in need of a solid introduction to digital technology, and digital technicians wishing to improve their understanding of traditional film technology. Sessions will be conducted in English only.

Registration
There will be spaces for 20 participants. This course is offered free of charge, and will include lunch and refreshments on both days of the training.

Participants are expected to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

Applicants should apply for registration by submitting THIS FORM before 7 April. Successful applicants will be notified by email by 14 April.

Contact
For more information, please email training@fiafnet.org.

The course is organized by David Walsh (Training and Outreach Coordinator, FIAF) and Benedek Kabán (National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive, Hungary), with the support of the FIAF Secretariat.

Presentation of the course

Photos, posters, press clippings, 3D objects, sheet music and many other materials are collected, catalogued, digitised and made accessible in and by film archives. These diverse documents are commonly grouped under the term “film-related materials”. However, each of these types of materials requires a completely different approach in terms of collection, digitization, and also cataloguing, and most of all, requires specialized and trained archivists. In addition, these departments within the film institutions are usually staffed with fewer people than the film departments. 

With this workshop, the CDC would like to offer a place and framework in which precisely the specific issues of film-related materials can be discussed openly and experiences exchanged. In doing so, we will primarily focus on cataloguing. Input lectures will present both projects from film heritage institutions and new technical developments. In an interactive session, we then want to take an in-depth look at value lists and, in turn, incorporate the results into the CDC's resources so that they can be shared publicly.

Speakers
The classes (a mixture of lectures, workshops and round-table discussions) will be taught by experts from the global network of FIAF archives, and other distinguished professionals in a relevant field. All classes will be conducted in English only.

Schedule
Day 1: 10am to 5pm (Lectures)

Daniela Tamm (Bundesarchiv) on cataloguing censorship cards and presenting them online
Helena Ekholm, Krister Collin, Sonny Mattsson (Swedish Film Institute) on their photo digitization project
Eva Hielscher (DFF) on dealing with sheet music in a film collection
Jan Holmberg (Ingmar Bergman Archive) introduces the Ingmar Bergman Archive

Leon van Wissen (University of Amsterdam/Eye Filmmuseum) on using Linked Data on movie posters in the Netherlands
Torbjorn Pedersen (National Library of Norway) on cataloguing different material types in a joint database
Sven Lepa (Estonian National Archives) on pilot projects of using Artificial Intelligence on their collection

Day 2: 10am to 12am (Workshops)

Discussion in smaller groups according to various topics, e.g. censorship/paper files, 3-D-Objects, how to use Linked Open Data and/or Artificial Intelligence in film-related collections.

Registration

Applications for registration are open until 7 April. Successful candidates will be notified by email by 20 April. The course will be offered free of charge, and five scholarships are available for those who need financial support.

Participants are expected to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

What is FRAME Mentoring?

The FRAME Mentoring programme is designed and organised by INA with the support of EBU Academy, FIAT/IFTA and the FRAME Committee composed of European experts. For 6 months, you will be assisted by a mentor, a recognised European and international professional of the audiovisual archive sector. The objective: to help you develop your professional project and your career.

The mentoring programme includes:

• Monthly online exchanges with your mentor and other relevant experts, from June to December 2023


• Professional immersion for two weeks at INA or in your mentor’s organisation, during the autumn 2023


• Accreditation to the next FIAT/IFTA World Conference, which will be organised in Locarno (Switzerland) on 17-20 October 2023

All expenses (flights, hotels, lunches) are 100% covered by the programme scholarship.

For whom?

FRAME Mentoring is aimed at all junior professionals in the audiovisual heritage field with less than 5 years of experience (in the same or in a similar position), regardless of their age, nationality, position, or field of activity. The programme is primarily addressed to professionals involved in a project ongoing or to be launched soon. The mentee’s project could deal with (non-exhaustive list):

• Design and implementation of an archiving workflow
  Collect of audiovisual archives
  Preservation of audiovisual archives physical carriers
  Digitisation
  Audiovisual and film restauration
  Digital archive management
  Digital archive long term preservation
  Management, notably of an audiovisual archives department
  Documentation
  Implementation of a database and definition of data models
  Rights management
  Research and scientific access and projects using audiovisual archives
  Educative access and projects using AV archives
  General audience access project using AV archives
  Production of audiovisual contents based on archives (film, documentary, digital and innovative contents)
  Post-disaster handling of collections

How to apply?

If you meet these criteria, you can submit your application and join the FRAME community! To apply, complete the application form before March 15th. After this date, a jury will examine all applications received and select the two mentees. All applicants will be notified of the selection or not of their application.

To apply > https://www.ina.fr/actualites-ina/frame-mentoring-2023-the-call-for-applications-is-open 

FRAME Basics 2023
The FRAME Basics training session is designed and organised by INA with the support of FIAT/IFTA, EBU Academy and the FRAME Committee composed of recognized European audiovisual archives experts. It is part of the international FRAME training programme, organised by INA since 2010.

The training programme will cover all the audiovisual content management process, from its preservation, digitisation, documentation to its access, reuse and promotion. It will focus on fundamental knowledge and skills, necessary for professionals working for the management of audiovisual collections.

Training courses will be designed and delivered, in English, by recognised European and international experts. They will share their best practices, tips and fundamental knowledge.

Who can apply?
FRAME Basics is addressed at all European and international professionals working in the audiovisual archives field, regardless of their experience, nationality, or field of activity (technical, documentation, production, etc.).

Nevertheless, it is aimed primarily at professionals who need to acquire the fundamentals of audiovisual archiving, at professionals with little experience, or who have had little or no training background in this field.

15 applicants will be selected.

When and where?
The FRAME Basics training session will take place online during 6 half-days, in two parts, from June 5 to 7 and June 12 to 14, 2023.

Tuition fees
Tuition fees cover the costs of the training session organisation, the creation and production of the training programme and training materials, and the remuneration of speakers.

- For non-scholarship-participants: 500 Euros

- For scholarship-participants: 300 Euros

Scholarships
The scholarships will be granted in priority to participants:

- From Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Ukraine

- Or from any other country, explaining in a cover letter the need for this financial support, and the impossibility of obtaining such funding from their institution or in their home country

How to apply?
To apply to FRAME Basics 2023, please complete the application form before April 15, 2023.

After this date, a jury will examine all applications received and select the participants. All applicants will be notified of the selection or not of their application.

Application form: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=rBNBiJye3UCym-3-d-eWVhWyQDHk_oVKuDbOLe48oxhUOVBNVjhKSTNQNTc3OExCNUVRQVhGUlBJVC4u 

For more information and any questions: frame@ina.fr

The structure of the Film Preservation Studies master’s degree course approaches cinema through its material nature and technological genealogy. The first two modules explore the photochemical origin of film images, and the subsequent ones focus on the peculiarities of the magnetic and digital formats. These branches together form a common set of specific knowledge: each image and each sound poses unique questions about its identification, degradation, preservation and cataloguing, but also about aesthetic and ethical issues, about the future of cinema, its sense of history and the profession of the archivist.

The content systematisation and working methods proposed by the course do not, however, lead to a simple and/or simplified understanding of the material under study. Quite the opposite, in fact; at the end of their journey, students are invited to explore the ‘grand memory of images’ from a complex and paradoxical perspective. And this is just as it should be, because even when the path to follow is perfectly defined, the journey of an archivist always leads eventually to the labyrinth of images of our era. The greatest treasure we could ever inherit.