Sufficiency or Excess
Analog and Digital Strategies for Film Heritage Sustainability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54103/2036-461X/28750Keywords:
Film Archives, Cinemathques, Media Sustainability, Film PreservationAbstract
The contemporary media landscape is marked by a tendency to accept the market-driven practices of planned obsolescence, where questions of sufficiency and excess permeate the realms of media industry practices. While this is entering the broader discussion on media sustainability, inadequate attention has been given to these phenomena in the film heritage field.
As content libraries expand, the need for larger and more efficient data centres challenges the limits of storage, archiving, and accessibility. Many countries throughout Europe have witnessed the construction of cutting-edge film storage vaults and preservation centres, but the rising volume of digital content and the induced built-in redundancy of digital formats gradually replacing carrier-based collections have necessitated a heightened focus on digitization, such as digital preservation standards and access for both analog and digital-born film materials.
Our proposal aims to take a critical approach to the digital preservation infrastructure of film heritage. Is digital preservation a reliable answer, ‘enough’ sustainable in environmental and moral terms, closely linked to economic growth and resource exploitation principles? How can a democratic, inclusive approach to moving image preservation be reconciled with the current audio-visual production hypertrophy? Will economic dynamics face the risk of exposing the most fragile assets and heritage to disappearance?
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Copyright (c) 2026 Serena Bellotti, Rossella Catanese, Valentina Valente
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