The Fédération Internationale des Archives de Télévision - International Federation of Television Archives (FIAT/IFTA) is a worldwide

association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

of institutions, commercial companies and individuals managing or with a special interest in

audiovisual Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. Audiovisual service prov ...

archiving in general and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

archives in particular. Many members are commercial and

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

s, but also national (audiovisual) archives are involved ever more. In general terms the association wants to connect the members, to spread knowledge in the field of television archiving and to defend their interests on an international level.

Organisation

The goal of the federation is to create cooperation among television archives, multimedia and audiovisual archives and libraries. To meet these goals, FIAT/IFTA provides forums to share knowledge and experience. Some of FIAT/IFTA’s main objectives are to provide a forum for exchange of knowledge and experience between its members, to promote the study of any topic relevant to the development and use of audiovisual archives and to establish international standards on key issues regarding all aspects of audiovisual media archive management. FIAT/IFTA has over 250 members. The federation is registered as an international association under French Law, with its official address at

Institut national de l'Audiovisuel The (abbrev. INA), () is a repository of all French radio and television audiovisual archives. Additionally it provides free access to archives of countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia. It has its headquarters in Bry-sur-Marne. Since 200 ...

. FIAT/IFTA has working relations with other organisations in the field, amongst others as a member of the

Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations The Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) is an umbrella group of international private organizations working on audiovisual archiving. These professional organizations have a common goal of promoting and encouraging the ...

Executive Council

FIAT/IFTA is chaired by a president (elected every 2 years with one possible re-election) and a General Secretary. The President, the General Secretary, the Treasurer and the Commission Chairs are ex-officio members of the Executive Council. Next to these, the other Executive Council members, accumulating to a maximum of 12, are elected every 4 years, by groups of 6 alternating every 2 years. The Executive Council can co-opt additional members at its own discretion.

Commissions

Next to the Executive Council, FIAT/IFTA has got 4 commissions, each with 6 to 12 members and a chair: *Media Management Commission: the only commission existing since the founding of the organisation. It started off in 1977 as the 'Commission Systèmes Documentaires'. In 1981 the name was changed to 'Documentation Commission' and in 2001 to 'Media Management Commission'. *Preservation & Migration Commission: called into existence in 1982 as the 'Technical Commission' it existed up until 2000. In 2007 it was restarted as the Preservation & Migration Commission. *Value, Use and Copyright Commission: initiated in 2018. *Media Studies Commission: started off in 1998 as a bridge towards the academic research world in the field of

television studies Television studies is an academic discipline that deals with critical approaches to television. Usually, it is distinguished from mass communication research, which tends to approach the topic from a social sciences perspective. Defining the field ...

. It was called the 'Academic Research Work Group' and in 2000 renamed as the 'Television Studies Working Group'. From 2003 it grew to a true commission calling itself the 'Television Studies Commission'. In 2016 the current name 'Media Studies Commission' was adopted.

Initiatives

Conferences and seminars

FIAT/IFTA World Conference

The FIAT/IFTA World Conference is held each year, usually in October. The evening programme includes an opening cocktail, a gala dinner and the annual FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards gala. In the even years the World Conference also holds a General Assembly, during which the new president and a part of the Executive Council is elected. The Conference features keynotes speakers, panels discussions, workshops, masterclasses, case study presentations, social events, and networking opportunities.

Regional Seminars

Next to this, FIAT/IFTA organises regional seminars around the globe, in order to focus on regional television archiving challenges. Recent editions were held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

(Regional Media Management Seminar, 2016),

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

(Regional Television Studies Seminar, 2015) and

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

(Regional Preservation & Migration Seminar, 2008).

Media Management Seminars

The Media Management Commission also organises a biannual seminar called 'Media Management Seminar' since 1998. The proceedings of these seminars are published and printed and freely available online via the FIAT/IFTA website. Recent editions were held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

(2023),

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

(2019),

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

(2017),

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

(2015),

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

(2013) and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(2011).

FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards

FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards is a series of three annual awards given for the best use of archival material, the best archive preservation project and the most innovative use of archival material. Several other categories have come up and disappeared over the course of the nineties and 2000s. Since 2014 also a Lifetime Achievement Award is attributed annually to a person with exceptional and enduring merits in the field of audiovisual archiving. Lifetime Achievement Awards have been granted to several prominent figures of the international audiovisual archiving world, including Dominique Saintville, Dietrich Schüller, Steve Bryant, Anne Hanford, Richard Wright, Vittorio Sette, Jean Varra, Annemieke de Jong, Roberto Rossetto and Jacqui Gupta.

FIAT/IFTA Save Your Archive

Save Your Archive is a program designed to help save endangered audiovisual collections. The ambition is to save the world audiovisual heritage, starting with a few collections. The Program does so by various means, including by providing financial support, training and/or technical assistance. The program speaks to FIAT/IFTA’s core mission – designing useful policies and tools to serve the archival community and developing cooperation among its members. The program works under the umbrella of the

Archives at Risk An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

campaign by the

(CCAAA). Past projects in countries such as

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

have received help from the programme.

History

FIAT/IFTA was founded as an association under

French Law The Law of France refers to the legal system in the French Republic, which is a civil law legal system primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with case law also playing an important role. The most influential of the French legal codes is ...

on 5 October 1977, when archives directors of mainly broadcasters but also national audiovisual archives felt the need to establish a separate organisation dedicated to television archives, as they were not accepted as members of the

International Federation of Film Archives The International Federation of Film Archives (french: Fédération internationale des archives du film, FIAF) was founded in Paris in 1938 by the Cinémathèque Française, the Reichsfilmarchiv in Berlin, the British Film Institute and the Museum ...

. Most members knew each other via the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

. After preparative meetings in the course of 1976–77 in Paris, London and Rome, the first conference of FIAT/IFTA was held in October 1977 in Paris. After Paris 1977, annual World Conferences took place all over the world: Regarding the organisation of the federation, next to the ones mentioned above several other commissions have come and gone: * Training Commission: from 1977 to 1979 and from 1981 until 2006, * Preservation and Selection Commission: from 1977 to 1986, * Cultural Use Commission: from 1980 to 1982, * Information Exchange Commission: from 1984 to 1986, The past presidents of FIAT/IFTA were:

References

External links

Association of Moving Image ArchivistsAMIA annual conference websiteVideo Aids to Film Preservation
{{Authority control * Organizations established in 1977 1977 establishments in France Television archives History of television Archivist associations History organisations based in the Republic of Ireland