The Association of European Cinematheques (French: Association des Cinémathèques Européennes - ACE) is an affiliation of 49 European national and regional film archives founded in 1991. Its role is to safeguard the European film heritage and make these rich audiovisual records collected and preserved by the various film archives accessible to the public. ACE is a regional branch of FIAF Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film / International Federation of Film Archives. ACE members are non-profit institutions committed to the FIAF Code of Ethics.
History
European film archives have been collecting, preserving, and restoring films and other materials relating to films since the 1930s. The collections range from pre-cinema apparatus to digital cinema files, all of which require specific methods, techniques and an extensive knowledge of film history for preservation.
In 1991, representatives of 31 main European film archives came together to create LUMIERE, a pan-European film restoration project. It was the first large-scale film restoration project funded by the MEDIA I Programme of the European community. The LUMIERE project lasted between 1991 and 1996, during which more than 1000 film titles were preserved and restored, 700 films were re-discovered and identified and a Joint European Filmography (JEF) was established.
ACE started in 1991 as the Association des Cinémathèques de la Communauté Européenne (ACCE). By the end of the LUMIERE project in 1996, the association renamed to its current title, Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE), and established collaboratively its role in raising awareness of the cultural and economic value of European film heritage among policymakers and the audiovisual industry.
Operating on the European level, ACE also represents the interest of its members in the European Union. ACE works to support and improve the economic and legal conditions, as well as technical and scientific research for digitization and long-term film preservation.
ACE members
ACE is an affiliation of 49 national and regional European film archives:
Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
Ταινιοθήκη της Ελλάδος / Greek Film Archive, Athens
Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona
Filmske novosti, Belgrade
Arhiv Jugoslovenske kinoteke / Jugoslav Film Archive, Belgrade
Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin
Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin
Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern, Bern
Centre national du cinéma, Bois d’Arcy
Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, Bologna
Cinémathèque royale de Belgique / Koninklijk Belgisch Filmarchief, Brussels
Arhiva Nationala de Filme, Bucharest
Nemzeti Filmintézet Magyarország – Filmarchívum / National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive, Budapest Det Danske Filminstitut, Copenhagen Irish Film Institute, Dublin DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt La Cineteca del Friuli, Gemona Kansallinen audiovisuaalinen instituutti / National Audiovisual Institute, Finland, Helsinki Cinémathèque suisse, Lausanne Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema, Lisbon Slovenski filmski arhiv, Ljubljana Slovenska kinoteka / Slovenian Cinematheque, Ljubljana British Film Institute, London Imperial War Museums, London La Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Filmoteca Española, Madrid Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Milan Gosfilmofond, Moscow Filmmuseum München, Münich Nasjonalbiblioteket, Oslo Cinemateket / The Norwegian Film Institute, Oslo La Cinémathèque française, Paris Crnogorska Kinoteka, Podgorica Národní filmový archiv, Prague Cineteca Nazionale, Rome Kinoteka Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo Кинотека на Република Северна Македонија / Cinematheque of the Republic of North Macedonia, Skopje Българска национална филмотека / Bulgarian National Film Archive, Sofia Svenska Filminstitutet, Stockholm Film Archives of the National Archives of Estonia, Tallinn Arkivi Qendror Shtetëror i Filmit (AQSHF) / Albanian National Film Archive, Tirana La Cinémathèque de Toulouse Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin Filmoteca Valenciana – Institut Valencià de Cultura, Valencia Filmoteca Vaticana, Vatican Filmarchiv Austria, Vienna Österreichisches Filmmuseum, Vienna Filmoteka Narodowa – Instytut Audiowizualny, Warsaw Hrvatski državni arhiv – Hrvatska kinoteka / Croatian state archive – Croatian cinematheque, Zagreb