Asian Film Archive

Asian Film Archive
Name	Asian Film Archive
Formation	2005
Type	Non-profit organisation
Headquarters	Singapore
Location	Singapore
Leader title	Executive Director

Asian Film Archive

The Asian Film Archive preserves, curates, and promotes cinematic heritage across Asia through acquisitions, restorations, screenings, and research. It operates within a network that includes institutions such as the National Library Board (Singapore), National Film Development Corporation India, Film Development Board (Nepal), Hong Kong Film Archive, and the British Film Institute, collaborating with festivals like the Cannes Film Festival, Berlinale, and Busan International Film Festival. The Archive engages filmmakers, scholars, and cultural agencies including the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore International Festival of Arts, Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore, and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (Singapore).

History

Founded in 2005 amid regional initiatives by organizations such as the Singapore Film Commission and influenced by archives including the Cineteca di Bologna, Library of Congress, and National Film and Sound Archive (Australia), the Archive emerged as part of a broader movement alongside entities like the Asian Film Foundation and the Southeast Asia Film Society. Early collaborations involved collectors, filmmakers including Liu Kang and Hou Hsiao-hsien, and festivals like Singapore International Film Festival and Shaw Organisation. Institutional milestones involved partnerships with the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, the Pusan International Film Festival, and the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, while programming intersected with museums such as the Singapore Art Museum and academic groups connected to Nanyang Technological University and King's College London film studies.

Collections and Holdings

The Archive's holdings span feature films, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and experimental works from countries including China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. Notable items relate to filmmakers and works by Satyajit Ray, Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, King Hu, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Shinsuke Ogawa, Ritwik Ghatak, Mani Ratnam, Lav Diaz, Tsui Hark, Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai, Tsai Ming-liang, Lino Brocka, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Lester James Peries, Phan Dang Di, Pema Tseden, Garin Nugroho, P. Ramlee, Usmar Ismail and others. Holdings include promotional materials, posters linked to distributors like Shaw Brothers Studio, Toho Company, Studio Ghibli, and archives of production companies such as Golden Harvest and Yun Nan Film Studio.

Preservation and Restoration

Restoration projects have been undertaken in cooperation with technical partners including the Cineteca di Bologna (L'Immagine Ritrovata), Technicolor, NHK, Arri, and academic centers like the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Film & Television Archive and Hong Kong Film Archive. Collections conservation standards reference guidelines used by the International Federation of Film Archives and involve film stock types from Eastman Kodak, digital workflows compatible with ProRes and archival formats promoted by Library of Congress. Restorations have addressed nitrate elements from titles linked to Shaw Brothers Studio and acetate degradation in prints from Pearl & Dean collections, often coordinated with curators from the Tokyo National Museum and technicians who previously worked on projects for Cannes Classics and the Venice Classics strand.

Exhibitions and Public Programs

Exhibitions and screening programs have been staged in venues including the National Museum of Singapore, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, The Projector (Singapore), Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, and partner venues abroad such as Asian Civilisations Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and Hong Kong Arts Centre. Public programs feature retrospectives on directors like Girish Kasaravalli, Chan Hung-ka, Brillante Mendoza, Ritwik Ghatak, and Sukumar Azhikode, plus collaborations with festivals including Singapore HeritageFest, Documentary Edge Festival, Cinemalaya, and IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam). Outreach initiatives have engaged communities through workshops with collectives such as Filmic Exchange and education projects with schools like Singapore American School and institutions including LASALLE College of the Arts.

Research, Education, and Publications

The Archive produces catalogs, monographs, and program notes working with publishers and journals such as Senses of Cinema, Film Comment, Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, and university presses including Routledge and University of California Press. Scholarly projects have involved partnerships with universities like National University of Singapore, Hong Kong Baptist University, University of Tokyo, University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, SOAS University of London, and research grants from bodies such as the Arts Council England and Asian Cultural Council. Educational programming includes internships, fellowships, and collaborative seminars with curators from Birkbeck, University of London and archivists trained through workshops led by the International Federation of Film Archives and practitioners from Cinecitta's restoration labs.

Governance and Funding

Governance structures reference models used by institutions such as the British Film Institute, National Film and Sound Archive (Australia), and Hong Kong Film Archive, with advisory boards composed of curators, filmmakers, and scholars including representatives associated with Asian Film Archive's partner organizations and funders ranging from philanthropic sources such as the Temasek Foundation, corporate sponsors like Singapore Press Holdings, grants from regional cultural agencies including the Japan Foundation, Korean Cultural Center, and project-specific support from foundations such as the Ford Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Category:Cultural organisations in Singapore