CHARTER
OF CINEMATOGRAPHIC
PROJECTION
IN THE 21ST CENTURY


We make films, produce, curate, project, collect, preserve or restore them, and we constitute a chain of skills and practices, linked together by the practice of projecting films in the historic format of cinema – today, in the digital era.

We wish to bring to light a critical situation which is, nonetheless, very little debated, and to come together into a compelling force, so that an industry’s choices do not annihilate the possibility of the unique marvel which is the projection of a film print.

The website filmprojection21.org is the embodiment of a network comprised around these affinities; it is a repertoire of initiatives, tools and reflections of this order, which permits to those who wish to do so to offer their support.

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As signatories of this charter, we will favor photochemical film projection whenever a projectable print of a historic film is available or a contemporary film is made in this format.

To continue to be able to project films in their original format is not a luxury, it is a necessary and logical continuity. It is a unique and incomparable experience, which will also allow filmmakers to continue to create in this medium. Who knows? Perhaps, photochemical film, liberated from the burden of its industrial heft, will live to see a new age, a rebirth linked to its proper specificity, an unforseen and vibrant moment in its long history.

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Therefore, we will duly announce the projection formats of the films in the programs we organize — and not only in catalogs reserved for professionals. At the least, in the case of photochemical projection we will indicate accordingly in our programs, for it is illusory to think that the audience can learn to distinguish it and acquire a taste for it if the screening format is never specified.

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By means of this website and beyond, in the face of difficulties that might weaken the resolve of some, we will lead collective actions to encourage the preservation of relevant knowledge and skills, such as the organization of film projection and maintenance training session, and the facilitation of tool sharing and print circulation, in order to perpetuate the possibility of cinematographic projection in the 21st century.

 

October, 2016

 

Sign the charter!