This dissertation provides a cultural history of the first North American film archive, the Film Library of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), established in 1935. It asks a seemingly simple question: How was it that small, popular, debased, ephemeral objects like films came to be treated as precious, complex and valuable historical objects? It therefore explores how ideas about archiving (seeing and saving films) intersect with practices of collection and exhibition, by mapping the evolution of key institutional discourses and cultural trends from the birth of the medium to the Film Library. It considers links between the archive and longstanding concepts in film culture---utopianism, cinematic knowledge and art. It attends to the more specific convergence of interests---public and private, national and international---which impacted on the Film Library's institutional shape and on the debates in which it was embroiled. This dissertation shows that despite the Film Library's home within an institution of modern art, film's archival value was associated more with the urgency of recovering a history that had been lost and less with an art that had been neglected. This contention is further supported by an examination of the Film Library's first circulating film programs and their public reception. This dissertation postulates that the library's development of an unprecedented and broad acquisition policy as well as an active exhibition program made it more than a mere reflection of the uniquely historical and modern attributes of the cinema: a meeting of aesthetic ferment, technology, commercialism, propaganda, popularity and information. It concludes that the library was an important intervention into these discourses marking with institutional certainty the contested nature of film as a cultural object as well as the ongoing project to understand it.

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A partir de um estudo etnográfico realizado entre os meses de setembro de 2006 e dezembro de 2007, procuro desenvolver uma interpretação de discursos de atores distintos que colocam em cena tensões, dramas e negociações, relativas à implantação de uma cinemateca em Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Nesse sentido, analiso algumas narrativas e práticas de moradores do bairro Centro, que formaram a Associação de Amigos do Cine-Theatro Capitólio (Aamica), e também de profissionais ligados a Fundação Cinema RS (Fundacine), os dois principais agentes envolvidos no projeto da Cinemateca Capitólio. Por um lado, segundo discursos de membros da Fundacine, o projeto de uma cinemateca para o Rio Grande do Sul é produto do desenvolvimento do campo audiovisual no Estado e posto em prática através da ação de pesquisadores e cineastas locais. Por outro lado, os discursos de membros da Aamica são compreendidos como narrativas inseridas no tema sobre o viver o bairro no presente, tendo em perspectiva uma comparação com um passado narrado pelos informantes (vivido no mesmo espaço social – o Centro da cidade). Essas narrativas proporcionam uma reflexão sobre a ressignificação do espaço público, vislumbrada por meio das relações e representações sociais do bairro através de memórias. O tema da preservação perpassa um prédio tombado pelo patrimônio municipal e estadual, um antigo cinema de rua, e a memória do campo audiovisual no estado. / This thesis advances an analysis of the discourses built by a plethora of social actors which bring to light tensions, dramas and negotiations around the construction of a film library in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The data are drawn from an ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between september/2006 and december/2007. Some narratives and practices of individuals who founded the Associação de Amigos do Cine-Theatro Capitólio (Aamica), inhabitants of Porto Alegre’s downtown, as well as of professionals associated to the Fundação Cinema RS (Fundacine) are analysed. As it is propounded, these are the agents involved in the construction of the Cinemateca Capitólio. On the one hand, according to Fundacine members, the project of a movie library in Rio Grande do Sul is the product of the development of the audiovisual field in the state and can only be fulfilled by researchers and local movie makers. On the other hand, Aamica’s members’ discourses are seen as inserted in the experience of living the neighborhood now having the past in perspective. These narratives motivate a reflection about the processes of resignification of the public space, constructed in the relations and social representations of the neighborhood via the informants’ memories. The issue of preservation is intertwined with the themes upon which this thesis is elaborated: a building deemed as a city and state heritage, an old street cinema, and the memory of the audiovisual field in the state.

A partir de um estudo etnográfico realizado entre os meses de setembro de 2006 e dezembro de 2007, procuro desenvolver uma interpretação de discursos de atores distintos que colocam em cena tensões, dramas e negociações, relativas à implantação de uma cinemateca em Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Nesse sentido, analiso algumas narrativas e práticas de moradores do bairro Centro, que formaram a Associação de Amigos do Cine-Theatro Capitólio (Aamica), e também de profissionais ligados a Fundação Cinema RS (Fundacine), os dois principais agentes envolvidos no projeto da Cinemateca Capitólio. Por um lado, segundo discursos de membros da Fundacine, o projeto de uma cinemateca para o Rio Grande do Sul é produto do desenvolvimento do campo audiovisual no Estado e posto em prática através da ação de pesquisadores e cineastas locais. Por outro lado, os discursos de membros da Aamica são compreendidos como narrativas inseridas no tema sobre o viver o bairro no presente, tendo em perspectiva uma comparação com um passado narrado pelos informantes (vivido no mesmo espaço social – o Centro da cidade). Essas narrativas proporcionam uma reflexão sobre a ressignificação do espaço público, vislumbrada por meio das relações e representações sociais do bairro através de memórias. O tema da preservação perpassa um prédio tombado pelo patrimônio municipal e estadual, um antigo cinema de rua, e a memória do campo audiovisual no estado. / This thesis advances an analysis of the discourses built by a plethora of social actors which bring to light tensions, dramas and negotiations around the construction of a film library in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The data are drawn from an ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between september/2006 and december/2007. Some narratives and practices of individuals who founded the Associação de Amigos do Cine-Theatro Capitólio (Aamica), inhabitants of Porto Alegre’s downtown, as well as of professionals associated to the Fundação Cinema RS (Fundacine) are analysed. As it is propounded, these are the agents involved in the construction of the Cinemateca Capitólio. On the one hand, according to Fundacine members, the project of a movie library in Rio Grande do Sul is the product of the development of the audiovisual field in the state and can only be fulfilled by researchers and local movie makers. On the other hand, Aamica’s members’ discourses are seen as inserted in the experience of living the neighborhood now having the past in perspective. These narratives motivate a reflection about the processes of resignification of the public space, constructed in the relations and social representations of the neighborhood via the informants’ memories. The issue of preservation is intertwined with the themes upon which this thesis is elaborated: a building deemed as a city and state heritage, an old street cinema, and the memory of the audiovisual field in the state.

A partir de um estudo etnográfico realizado entre os meses de setembro de 2006 e dezembro de 2007, procuro desenvolver uma interpretação de discursos de atores distintos que colocam em cena tensões, dramas e negociações, relativas à implantação de uma cinemateca em Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Nesse sentido, analiso algumas narrativas e práticas de moradores do bairro Centro, que formaram a Associação de Amigos do Cine-Theatro Capitólio (Aamica), e também de profissionais ligados a Fundação Cinema RS (Fundacine), os dois principais agentes envolvidos no projeto da Cinemateca Capitólio. Por um lado, segundo discursos de membros da Fundacine, o projeto de uma cinemateca para o Rio Grande do Sul é produto do desenvolvimento do campo audiovisual no Estado e posto em prática através da ação de pesquisadores e cineastas locais. Por outro lado, os discursos de membros da Aamica são compreendidos como narrativas inseridas no tema sobre o viver o bairro no presente, tendo em perspectiva uma comparação com um passado narrado pelos informantes (vivido no mesmo espaço social – o Centro da cidade). Essas narrativas proporcionam uma reflexão sobre a ressignificação do espaço público, vislumbrada por meio das relações e representações sociais do bairro através de memórias. O tema da preservação perpassa um prédio tombado pelo patrimônio municipal e estadual, um antigo cinema de rua, e a memória do campo audiovisual no estado. / This thesis advances an analysis of the discourses built by a plethora of social actors which bring to light tensions, dramas and negotiations around the construction of a film library in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The data are drawn from an ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between september/2006 and december/2007. Some narratives and practices of individuals who founded the Associação de Amigos do Cine-Theatro Capitólio (Aamica), inhabitants of Porto Alegre’s downtown, as well as of professionals associated to the Fundação Cinema RS (Fundacine) are analysed. As it is propounded, these are the agents involved in the construction of the Cinemateca Capitólio. On the one hand, according to Fundacine members, the project of a movie library in Rio Grande do Sul is the product of the development of the audiovisual field in the state and can only be fulfilled by researchers and local movie makers. On the other hand, Aamica’s members’ discourses are seen as inserted in the experience of living the neighborhood now having the past in perspective. These narratives motivate a reflection about the processes of resignification of the public space, constructed in the relations and social representations of the neighborhood via the informants’ memories. The issue of preservation is intertwined with the themes upon which this thesis is elaborated: a building deemed as a city and state heritage, an old street cinema, and the memory of the audiovisual field in the state.

Das Internet wird zunehmend zur IuK-Plattform für Lehre und Forschung. Vom Wandel der Hochschulen sind auch die Hochschulbibliotheken und deren Strukturen sowie Dienstleistungen betroffen. Doch sind sie für diesen Wandel gerüstet? In Deutschland ist eine regional verteilte Informationsinfrastruktur im Bereich der Film- und Medienwissenschaft anzutreffen. Verteilte Ressourcen, seien es Medien oder Internetangebote, sind zwar vielfältig vorhanden, jedoch nur vereinzelt nachgewiesen. Ziel der in 2001 durchgeführten Exploration war es, ein Konzept für eine Virtuelle Film- und Medienbibliothek (Virtual Library Film and Media Studies) zu erstellen. So wurde der differenzierten Informationsbedarf von Dozenten. Es erwies sich als sinnvoll, als ersten Analysepunkt einzelne Internetangebote von vorhandenen ausgewählten virtuellen Fachportalen (DFG gefördert) zu untersuchen. Experteninterviews mit der Fokussierung auf die Lehrenden von den zwei größten Filmhochschulen in Deutschland (Potsdam und München) waren dabei der zentrale Kern. Bei dieser Exploration wurde anhand der Interview-Auswertungen mittels Transkription und anschließender Inhaltsanalyse ein genaues Bedarfsprofil der wissenschaftlichen Zielgruppe herausgearbeitet. Abgerundet wurden diese Untersuchungen durch die quantitative Methode der Fragebogen, die an Filmbibliothekare versendet wurden. Es sollte herausgefunden werden, wie diese Intermediäre den Informationsbedarf der Filmdozenten einschätzten. Sechs Portalsegmente wurden auf diesen Ergebnissen entwickelt. Bei der rasanten Entwicklung der digitalen Fachinformation, gerade im Internet, müssen Bibliothekare die Veränderungen permanent beobachten, um Ihre Dienstleistungen zu aktualisieren. / More and more the internet becomes the information and communication platform for teachings and research. University libraries and their structures as well as their services are concerned with the changes of universities in general. But are the university libraries prepared for this change? In Germany a regionally distributed infrastructure of information within the range of film and media science to be found. Distributed resources in the form of media or offers in internet are variously present, but only occasionally detectable. One of the aims of the exploration accomplished in 2001 was to provide a concept for a VIRTUAL LIBRARY FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES. For this reason the different demands of lectures for informations were investigated. Therefore a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods were used. As the first point of analysis a comparison of the individual internet offers was used on available selected virtual specialized portals (DFG promoted). Expert interviews to bring into focus the lecturers of the two largest film universities in Germany (Potsdam and Munich) formed the central intention. With this exploration analysing the interviews by means of transcription and following analysis of contents an exact need profile has been worked out. These investigations were rounded off by the quantitative method of the questionnaires, which were sent to film librarians. It had to be found out, how the intermedians assess the lecturers need of media information. With the rapid development of digitally specialized information, also in the internet, librarians must permanently observe the changes, in order to update their services.