Filmarchives online
The Internet portal filmarchives online makes accessing stock overviews of numerous European film archives possible, thus creating a European network of archival film databases. Since February 2007, online, information is now at around 25,000 film works from several archives to find - mostly non-fiction material. The database continues to grow and the catalog entries were last also supplemented occasionally by streaming videos and screenshots.
The aim of film archives online is to make the scattered over many countries European film heritage through a union catalog available, and thus to simplify the complex, time consuming and expensive process of copy search significantly. Language barriers and lack of information facilities, which additionally complicate currently the access to this material and inhibit its cultural and commercial use should be reduced gradually by the introduction of film archives online. The portal thus making its data in several languages - including English, German, French, Italian and Czech - accessible.
The target group comprises mainly the field of professional media and film production as well as academic research. Films can be determined on the basis of information content, filmographic data or technical details. The search results include both information about the films themselves and the locations of the existing copies. Contact information enables direct requests to relevant institutions. Digitized online and available movies are linked directly.
Filmarchives online has emerged from the MIDAS project (Moving Image Database for Access and Re -use of European Film Collections). MIDAS was launched as a pilot project of the European Commission program " MEDIA Plus" in January 2006 and ends in January 2009, the German Film Institute -. DIF realized the project as a co-ordinator, together with other European institutions. The concentration consists of 18 institutions - including the British Film Institute (BFI, London), the Národní Filmový Archive ( NFA, Prague ), the Cineteca di Bologna (CNB ) and the DEFA -Stiftung (Berlin) and the German Cinematheque - Museum film and Television (Berlin).