The Sydney International Film Festival have launched a online living archive to celebrate their 60 years. This ground-breaking initiative is a world-first, designed as a free digital-only publication with thousands of pages of content and images, creating something so large it could never have been printed. You can view it here http://online.sffarchive.org.au/
Sydney Film Festival 1954 to Now: A Living Archive features;
• 37 essays or over 35,000 words of original writing, interviews and research about the festival from cultural commentators and film writers such as David Marr, Dr Gregory Dolgopolov, Garry Maddox, Eddie Cockrell and Sandy George as well as former SFF directors David Stratton, Paul Byrnes, Gayle Lake, Lynden Barber, Clare Stewart and the festival’s first director David Donaldson
• Over 10,000 words of memories and stories from festival goers
• Searchable list of all 8580 films that have ever screened at the festival
• Over 1000 archived photos
• Over 450 pages of material (channelled through 86 key pages)
• Over 50 archived videos including award-winning short films, news clips and trailers
• All 59 complete program guides and previous retrospective publications (25 years and 40 years), adding up to over 3000 more pages of material
• Features a range of downloadable material such as essays, programs and catalogues
• Is a living, breathing record designed to grow as Sydney Film Festival does
• Is open to audience contribution through the ‘Join the Discussion’ page
This ‘living archive’ was made possible through SFF’s partnership with digital pioneers Realview. “We are extremely excited and honoured to have been involved in Sydney Film Festival 1954 to Now: A Living Archive,” said Realview Digital CEO, Richard Lindley. “It really pushes the boundaries and showcases just what is possible in this exciting new media. Packed full of stories, videos, images and audio, beautifully laid out and accessible from desktops, laptops, iPads and tablets alike, it is sure to be a favourite destination for the film enthusiast now and into the future.”
“This free digital archive provides a thorough historical overview of the festival, which has challenged, delighted and entertained Sydneysiders for six decades,” said SFF’s Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “Within its pages you will find a multi-layered, multi-dimensional chronicle of Sydney Film Festival – its past, present and future, seen from many perspectives and told with many voices. It is an amazing resource full of multimedia, interviews and analysis of the history of the festival, its relationship to the local and international film industries, its position in cinema history and its role in the development of local art, culture and entertainment.”
http://online.sffarchive.org.au/