Från kasematt till allmänhet : En studie i filmarkivens arkivförmedling

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to map and explore how Swedish film archives work with archival intermediation and archival access activities, wherein the contemporary and transitional nature of film and film archives – from analogue to digital milieus – is considered. The intention is to deepen the knowledge concerning how these processes affect film archives as institutions of memory and film heritage, as well as the role of the film archivist, and different understandings of film as an archival material. This is operationalised by method triangulation as the empirical material consists of qualitative interviews conducted in concurrence with two film heritage institutions: the Swedish Film Institute and Filmform (The Art Film and Video Archive); as well as text- and discourse analytical approaches to policy documents, national investigations concerning Swedish audio-visual heritage plans, and archival codes of ethics regarding these organisations. Furthermore, it is a hope of the author that this approach will enable a more cohesive and enhanced scholarly relationship between the disciplines of archival science and film- and media history, as the two fields in a Swedish context, rarely intertwine. The analysis is presented along thematically composed chapters, which concentrate on the two institution’s historical contexts and emergences as memory institutions; their presence in contemporary cultural heritage discourse; and finally, as mediators of Swedish film heritage. The study shows that archival intermediation in the context of film archives and film as material is dependent on, and conditioned by, a range of different interpreters and external intermediating agents.