Monday, April 11, 2011

FIAF Symposium: Indigenous Film Collections in Africa and the World (Day 1)

The first day of the 67th FIAF Congress in Pretoria opened full of substance. The keynote speech of Ms. Seipati Bulane-Hopa (FEPACI) raised fundamental issues on people's rights to images of themselves.

FIAF Congress welcome and associated speeches
Chair: Ms. Mandy Gilder, Acting National Archivist of South Africa, Pretoria
Speakers:
1. Mr. Hisashi Okajima, FIAF President, Tokyo
2. Clr. K. Ramokgopa, Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane
3. Keynote Speech: Context and examples of Indigenous collections and their challenges
Key note speaker: Ms. Seipati Bulane-Hopa, Secretary General of the PAN African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI), Ouagadougou - a remarkable statement raising fundamental issues on people's rights to their own images - she also introduced the concept of REMATRIATION: returning to Mother Africa - the speech should be published on a prominent forum
4. Mr. Joe Phaala, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture of South Africa - with remarks on Nelson Mandela's prison films (including Cleopatra)

Session 1 (panel session)
Topic: What are Indigenous Collections? How and why do we distinguish them from the rest of the film collection?
Chair: Ms. Meg Labrum, NFTVA, Canberra
Speakers:
1. Ms. Melisia Shinners, NFVSA Representative, Pretoria - The Bushmen of the Kalahari, Bantu Tribes of Southern Africa
2. Ms. Huia Kopua, New Zealand Film Archives, Wellington - Maori representations in the cinema
3. Ms. Silja Sombay, Sami Film Center, Oslo - Sami representations in the cinema

Session 2 (panel session)
Topic: Case studies of Indigenous collections from Africa and the World
Chair: Michael Loebenstein, Oesterreichisches Filmmuseum, Wien
Speakers:
1. Dr. Jacqueline Maingard, University of Bristol, Edinburgh - A Day in the Life of a Rickshaw Boy, The Boy Kumashenu
2. Mr. Ivan Murambiwa, National Archive of Zimbabwe, Harare - reappraising images of Africans in the cinema
3. Mr. Gakumo Thiani, Department of Film Services, Nairobi - the reality of film archiving in Kenya

Session 3 (case studies)
Chair: Mr. Christian Dimitriu
Speakers:
1. Mr. José Manuel Costa, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon - preserving the INAC Mozambique film collection - excerpt from: O vento sopra do norte (The Wind Blows from the North, 1987).
2. Mr. Eric Le Roy, Archives Françaises du Film / CNC, Paris - preserving Alger le Cap (1951).

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