Workshop: Transnational Film Archives and the Politics of Exclusion

Organised by Till Kadritzke (Research Area 4: "Literary Currencies") and Samira Spatzek (Research Area 1: "Competing Communities"). The event is part of the event series "After Accumulation" at EXC 2020 in cooperation with Sinema Transtopia.

A Workshop with Can Sungu and Lisabona Rahman.

The workshop addresses the politics of film archiving, focusing on two challenges involved in archival practices, both of which endanger the survival of films: the pressure that national institutions and frameworks put on film archiving, particularly with regard to films that can be considered transnational; and the material dimension of film archiving and the specific challenges involved when dealing with celluloid. The workshop thus combines the material dimensions of archival practices with the political processes that in- or exclude certain cultural artefacts from access.

In a first part, Can Sungu, co-founder and artistic director of Sinema Transtopia, engages with the film archives in Germany, focusing on how the narrow definitions of what constitute a "German film" exclude films from marginalized and migrant perspectives. In his input he will also discuss how he sees transnational archival practice as a necessity in cinema practice. (in German)

In the second part, Lisabona Rahman, film archivist and programmer, likewise tackles the question of transnational archiving, especially in the context of post-colonial societies and the scarcity of archival infrastructure. She explores feminist archival practices and the material survival of celluloid, bringing examples from her work with feminist collective Kelas Liarsip in Indonesia and her experience as an archivist in transnational contexts. (in English)

The workshop will take place at Sinema Transtopia. As a space dedicated to archiving and exhibiting marginalized films that are rarely shown in other spaces, Sinema Transtopia offers the perfect location for the workshop. Moreover, it also provides the necessary infrastructure for showing films from different materials, including 16mm.

The workshop is part of the event series „After Accumulation“ at the Exzellenzcluster „Temporal Communities“ (Freie Universität Berlin).

Since the number of participants will be limited, we kindly ask to register by November 18, 2023 at till.kadritzke@fu-berlin.de.

A Workshop with Can Sungu and Lisabona Rahman.