Films associated with anti-colonial movements in the latter half of the 20th century were rooted in anti-institutional and radical activisms. These films had to navigate censorship laws, national border policies, forced displacement, political persecution, and financial constraints. Drawing on the experiences of curator-researchers Annabelle Aventurin and Luna Hupperetz, the discussion focuses on the research related to the militant cinema collective Cineclub Vrijheidsfilms, asking questions such as: how do these particularities influence the nature of the materials? What methods can be defined for researching and curating fragmented, unsynchronised, incomplete audiovisual records? How to research collections that are inherently dispersed?

While the material collections are stored, at least in part, at film or audiovisual archival institutions, activating these histories requires community engagement. For independent researchers and curators, this often means establishing self-initiated networks and recalling marginalised and possibly traumatic memories connected to individuals and political movements. Archivist and founding director of the Archives & Digital Media Lab Jamila Ghaddar begins this workshop by sharing her experiences in developing archival ethical praxis. The talk will be moderated by Asli Özgen.

This workshop is part of the Amsterdam School for Heritage and Memory Studies (AHM) and Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) research initiative on Critical Audiovisual Heritage, co-hosted by Framer Framed and supported by UvA and NWO.

Location: Framer Framed, Oranje-Vrijstaatkade 71, Amsterdam.