State Library of WA showcases newly restored heritage films

The State Library of Western Australia (SLWA) has begun a project to restore and digitise its collection of 14,500 films, reports the West Australian.

In late October SLWA partnered with local multimedia and visual arts collective Genrefonix to showcase a 30-minute compilation of selected restored footage documenting daily life in WA from the 1920s-1950s.

The films include home videos, and footage of the Swan River, Rottnest Island, royal visits and Perth’s trams and steam trains. To date, about 10% of the archive has been digitised, according to state librarian Margaret Allen.

Most of the films in SLWA’s collection are on 16mm reels, which costs $15 to $20 per minute to save and digitise.

‘Saving our film collection is one of our priorities, but it is not cheap and this latest $25,000 digitisation project has been possible through a crowd-funding venture, private donations and a grant from Screenwest,’ said Allen.

For more information about SLWA’s film collection, see the website.

Category: Library news