Kinemathek Bern

The play of light / Cinematheque Bern (or short: play of light ) is a film archive in Bern.

In the early summer of 2000 the club play of light took over the use of endangered cinematic collection of the late 1998 Bernese cinema technician Walter A. Ritschard. Based on that, there was a regional film archive. Since 2006, the play of light is a member of the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film ( FIAF ).

History

Collection Walter Ritschard

The Bernese cinema technician Walter A. Ritschard (1922-1998) left behind an immense and above all unordered collection of historically valuable material on the history of cinematography: " Ritschard was a man possessed, who had dedicated his life to cinema. Even as a teenager, he organized under the title ' Cinéma Hardy film projections in private. "The estate of Ritschard includes not only more than 100 projectors also 500 film roles and numerous subject-specific paper material and forms the basis of today's collections the play of light.

Development of a regional Cinematheque

The play of light 's mission is to save films and other cinematographic material from decay, destruction and oblivion. Materials are refurbished, professionally preserved and made ​​accessible to the public.

Reorientation in the film Bern

Since 2012, the play of light is part of the movie house Bern and thus more an interface between film practice and museum.

Effective public procession

On September 9, 2012 with the participation of many volunteers, a large part of the historic projectors by hand could be curbed to the new location.

Program

Since the opening of the play of light every Sunday night, two rolls of film with short films from the archive together and provide an insight into the film collection of the Cinematheque. In addition, thematic film cycles and retrospectives. In the course of integration into the film Bern the play of light shows under the title " Berner role " regularly Movies of regional film artists.

Archive and collection activity

The collections of the play of light are composed of various deposits of filmmakers as well as the private collection of stocks and numerous bequests of different personalities.

The film archive currently contains about 15,000 rolls of film. The focus of the collection is on regional amateur, documentary and educational films. In addition, a wide range of Scopitones and animated films is in the refrigerator.

The library contains, in addition to various literature on the film, particularly numerous Swiss film magazines. In addition, a focus of the collection is on literature on film technology, especially with respect to the projection and camera technology.