Preserving film heritage
German cinema films are to be comprehensively registered in a database and permanently archived.
FILMS ARE CULT(URE). “A film has a more immediate impact on the emotions than any other art form,” says Bernd Neumann, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. “It also contributes enormously to the understanding of our culture and society. Films document the historical development of our country in a unique way.” That’s why the Federal Government has now decided to introduce compulsory registration for German cinema films. In future, producers will have to provide content and technical details about their films, which will be stored and made available in a standardized system. This will create a central German film heritage database. So far, only publicly funded films have been archived, non-centrally. Alongside the compulsory registration of current films, federal funds will support the gradual restoration and digitalization of older films to preserve them for coming generations, including such classics as Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s silent movie Nosferatu or Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel with Marlene Dietrich. The long-term objective is to create a complete archive of German film production and to permanently preserve it.
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