Film Programs

Austria is probably the only country in the world with an unbroken and ongoing tradition of producing film and cinema programs. More than just charming relics of a bygone era of cinema culture, film programs are a crucial ‒ sometimes our only ‒ source of information, for instance about films considered permanently lost.

For decades, the Department for the Documentation of Film, headed by Peter Spiegel, has put enormous efforts into assembling what is at 50,000 items probably the world’s largest collection of film programs. Among the most extensive holdings in this area are runs of Austrian silent-movie programs (e.g. Kivur), of the post-war Illustrierter Film-Kurier, and of the Neue Filmprogramm, which is still with us today. Over recent years, an FAA-initiated project has explored the history of film programs; a publication resulting from the project is currently in preparation.