The aim of this special issue is to develop a better understanding of the social, political, and cultural forces that have shaped and defined archival training in the past and present and nourish continued critical reflection. More than the institutionalization of established “best practices,” archival training’s different departmental homes within the humanities, social sciences, and sciences indicate differences in ontological and epistemological conceptualization of moving images and their role in culture. Interventions in the field of archival studies provide answers to these questions by offering insights into the multifarious turns and directions that the field has taken in the past few decades, and where it may go in the future.
1. Christian Gosvig Olesen, Philipp Dominik Keidl – Introduction
2. Ray Edmondson – Is film archiving a profession yet. A reflection 20 years on
3. Caroline Frick – What Price Professionalism
4. Eef Masson, Giovanna Fossati – Interdisciplinarity, Specialization, Conceptualization
5. Benedict Salazar Olgado – What Do We Profess To
7. Alejandro Bachmann – Multiplying Perspectives
15. Rossella Catanese – Learning From the Keepers. Archival Training in Italian Cinematheques
16. Giuseppe Fidotta – Review of Film History as Media Archaeology
17. Andrée Lafontaine – Review of Hollywood and the Great Depression