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Film Archives: A Decaying Visual History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2022

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Extract

The 20th Century saw a movement from the Industrial Revolution to what we could call the Communication Revolution, and perhaps a newer revolution in the past 20 years, which we could characterise as the Information Revolution.

The Communication Revolution began with the discovery of photography (and shortly thereafter, cinema) at the end of the 19th Century. The Lumiere brothers in France, Edward Muybridge in England, and Thomas Edison in America explored the possibilities of moving and still images. Rapid expansion of technology and opportunity saw the rise of revolutionary cinema in Russia, and the emergence of Hollywood - the beginnings of an industry that today engulfs our world with images.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2009

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Footnotes

1.

This paper was presented at the 1st International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives (ICADLA-1), held from 1 to 3 July 2009 at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Following the paper, a call was made for delegates to facilitate the initiation of an audit in their own country, and the formation of a new organization to coordinate this was mooted (the Audio Visual Audit for Africa or AVAFA). Nineteen delegates from seven countries put their names down. Anyone wishing to get involved should contact the organizer, David Forbes, at david@shadowfilms.co.za or +27824508003.