Nitrate film collection

All films recorded on a 35mm format before 1950 were produced using nitrate. This highly combustible and chemically volatile substance frequently lies behind processes of decomposition; in the final stage only brown powder remains of a film reel. Around 14 000 roles of nitrate film are stored within the Filmarchiv Austria at present. That equals a total length of approximately 2.5 million metres and corresponds to the running time of roughly 1250 feature films. The quota of nitrate films housed by the Filmarchiv Austria adds up to almost 10% of our entire collection and encompasses film stock (including major works on Austria’s cultural and contemporary history) that ranges from 1896 right up into the 1950s. Since nitrate film is both chemically volatile and threatened by autocatalytic symptoms of decay it must be transferred onto a modern carrier material (polyester film) in order to guarantee the safe-keeping and long-term preservation of our filmic heritage. The restoration of nitrate film and the recovery of Austria’s filmic heritage has therefore become a race against time which the Filmarchiv Austria is tackling face on. The archive concentrates particularly on presenting films which have often been restored frame for frame through painstaking detail work. These processes of restoration and the transferral of nitrate film originals have been shown at the Metro Kino within the framework of the monthly presentation series Faszination Filmarchivierung since January 2003.

Contact:

NikolausWostry
n.wostry@filmarchiv.at
Tel.: +43 (0) 2236 71440