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National Film, Video and Sound Archive/Pretoria

On the 1st of April 1964 the National Film Board of South Africa was established in terms of Act 73 of 1963. The Board was enacted to perform certain duties to assist in the promotion of the film industry - also the tracing, accessioning, restoration, matching, preservation and making available of films which were made in or about South Africa, irrespective of the format. To execute this directive, a section was established within the Film Board which was known as the South African Film Institute. The name was later changed to the South African National Film Archive.

On 31 December 1979 the activities of the National Film Board were phased out by order of the Cabinet of the South African Government, with one exception, namely that the National Film Archive should continue with its work. This resulted in this section's transfer to the Department of National Education's Directorate of Audio-Visual Education.

In 1982 it was realized that the Film Archive should rather be part of the State Archives Service and it was transferred to become a subsection of this Service.

In 1985 the name of the section was again changed to the South African National Film, Video and Sound Archive, when its functions were broadened.

The present South African Legal Deposit Act makes no provision for the legal deposit of audio-visual material other than microfilm. The accessioning of all other audio-visual material (which is not government generated) happens by means of voluntary donations. The Archive's Act provides for government generated material to be transferred to the National Film, Video and Sound Archive.

The present acquisition policy can loosely be described to include all audiovisual material which was made in or about South Africa, regardless of the nature or format of the information carrier or the source of the material. This includes related material such as scripts, stills, promotional items, apparatus and machines, etc. The Archive's holdings currently consist of approximately 80,000 reels of film which include newsreels, documentaries, educational items, television programs and feature films.

A comprehensive library with over 3200 books on all aspects of film operates as a research library for bona fide researchers.

The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology is the sole funder of the National Film, Video and Sound Archive. The Department has also funded its recent film festival to commemorate the centenary of cinema in South Africa. Other funds came from the film and distribution industry, with whom the National Film, Video and Sound Archive has established strong ties.

The National Film, Video and Sound Archive presents screenings to the public as well as to student groups on a regular basis. It is also moving towards participation in foreign film festivals, but due to a lack of personnel and funds it is impossible to become as actively involved as it would like to be.

The National Film, Video and Sound Archive has been a member of IASA for nearly a decade and has recently been accepted as a provisional member of FIAF.