Major project to help expand Shetland Film Archives
SHETLAND Film Archive has secured almost £20,000 in funding for a community engagement project which will expand its archive collection.
The money will also be used to engage with moving image donors and service local community groups.
A part-time manager will be employed for an 18-month period to lead the project, entitled ‘Connecting Communities Through Archive.’
They will travel to communities across Shetland to locate moving image donations and engage with groups who may wish to make use of archive material.
They will also be supported to undertake a personal project based on their own interests and specialism which showcases the Shetland Film Archive collections.
Seventy one per cent of the £19,500 funding will be provided by the Shetland Islands Council’s Coastal Communities Fund, with 24 per cent coming from Shetland Community Benefit Fund’s Viking Community Fund.
The remainder of the cash is coming from archive reserves.
More than 60 hours of footage from film and tape sources have been digitised by the Shetland Film Archive since 2017, most of which are family films from the 1940s to the 1980s.
This personal footage provides a unique insight into the lives of ordinary Shetlanders through the decades and prompts inter-generational discussion of local history and culture.
A review of the collection has identified underrepresented areas, including remote/outer island communities and material filmed after the year 2000.
This project will particularly focus on these gaps to ensure that the archive fully represents the cultural and historical diversities of life in Shetland and is a celebration of both historic and current film-making talent.
Shetland Film Archive chairman Greg McCarron said: “We are extremely excited to be launching the Connecting Communities Through Archive project, which will help us continue to preserve, protect and celebrate Shetland’s moving image heritage.
“I’d like to thank our two local funders for supporting our project, ensuring that valuable records of local history and culture are preserved for future generations.”
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