On February 27th and 28th, 2025, the international conference “Moving Forward, Looking Back: Digital Transformation and Sustainable Archival Practices in Film Heritage” was held at the University of Tuscia, organized as a midterm outcome of the PRIN 2022 PNRR project ‘SAFE’ – The SustainAbility of Italian Film hEritage. Archival Infrastructures, Digital Preservation, Stewardship Strategies. The event brought together scholars, researchers and practitioners to address crucial issues related to audiovisual heritage digitization strategies, archival processes and sustainability.
The conference hosted two keynote speakers, Giovanna Fossati (Utrecht University) and Reto Kromer (AV Preservation), as well as a panel discussion with representatives from partner archives (Cineteca del Friuli, Archivio Storico Luce, Cineteca dello Stretto, Archivio Audiovisivo del Movimento Operaio e Democratico, Home Movies Foundation – National Archive of Family Films, Cineteca Sarda) and several discussion sessions.
Panels explored key topics such as standards for film digitization, archival applications for artificial intelligence, and strategies for preserving film materials in the digital age, with contributions from experts from various international institutions, such as Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Amsterdam, University of Turin, University of Naples Federico II, and IKON Digital Farm.
A strength of the event was the dialogue between theoretical research and applied practices, which fostered discussion between academia and industry stakeholders. In addition, the conference was an opportunity to share the first results of the SAFE project, opening up new research perspectives and possible collaborations.
Recordings of the conference will soon be available on this website.