Larger UK Archives  |  Principal European Archives

The short answer is: contact any archive, describe the material you have and they will point you in the right direction. Archivists co-operate closely. They know not only where local material will be welcomed but where special interests are valued: railway, sports, military materials and so on.

If you have any pictures, film, video or other memorabilia - don't dump them or let them moulder in an attic. The chances are someone, somewhere will be eager to have them. The film archivists can even point you towards specialist collections of other items such as vintage wirelesses, classic cars, dental instruments …

United Kingdom

These are some of the larger film archives in the UK, there are many more local and specialist ones: (telephone numbers are as dialled in UK)

• East Anglian Film Archive (Norwich) 01603 592664
• Lincolnshire & Humberside Film Archive (Spalding) 01775 725631
• The London Film Archive Trust 0207 923 4074
• Media Archive for Central England 0121 464 1533
• National Film & Television Archive (London) 0171 255 1444
• North West Film Archive (Manchester) 0161 247 3097
• Northeast Television Film Archives (Middlesborough) 01642 342115
• Northern Film & Television Archive (Gateshead) 0191 477 3601
• Scottish Screen Film & Television Archive (Glasgow) 0141 302 1700
• South East Film & Video Archive (Brighton) 01273 600900
• Wales Film & Television Archive (Aberystwyth) 01970 626007
• Wessex Film & Sound Archive (Winchester) 01962 847742
• Yorkshire Film Archive (York) 01904-716550

Principal European Archives

In other parts of the world start with your national film archive (or search the Internet for a local one). Some of the principal European Archives are listed below (telephone numbers are as dialled in UK):

• Austria: Österreichishes Filmarchiv 43 1 512 99 36
• Belgium: Cinémathèque Royale/Koninklijk Filmarchief, Palais des Beaux Arts 23, Rue Ravenstein 1000, Bruxelles, Belgium.
• Denmark: Det Danske Filmmuseum 45 31 57 65 00
• Finland: Suomen Elokuva-Arkisto 358 0 171 417
• France: Les Archives du Film du Centre National de la Cinématographie 33 1 30 14 80 00
• Germany: Deutsche Rundfunkarchiv 49 30 63 81 60 55
• Greece: Teniothiki Tis Elladas 30 1 3612046
• Ireland: Irish Film Archive 353 1 679 5744
• Italy: Cineteca Nazionale 39 6 722941
• Luxembourg: Cinémathèque Municipale de Luxembourg 352 47 96 26 44
• The Netherlands: Nederlands Filmmuseum 31 20 589 1400
• Portugal: Cinemateca Portuguesa - Museum do Cinema 351 1 546279
• Spain: Filmoteca Española 34 1 549 00 11
• Sweden: Svenska Filminstitutet 46 8 665 11 00

The international organisation for archives is FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives) based in Brussels. (32) 2 343 06 91

Editor's note: Most of this information are taken from the Film and Television Handbook published by the British Film Institute back in 2001. Some of the deatils may have changed by now.

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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