Collect Films!

Our Collect Films! series focuses on the holdings of private collectors and independent archives. It is thanks to them, not least, that films shot and sold on narrow gauge film have been preserved, as for a long time they were not part of the collection profile of large archives and film libraries. Yet narrow-gauge films are magnificent collector's items, whether on 8, Super 8, 9.5, or 16 mm. And since the projectors are located in the middle of the cinema auditorium and film screeners can become film explainers, their presentations have a charm all their own.

Ralf Forster will be our guest in November. The film historian laid the foundation for his collection in 1990 when he happened to discover hundreds of “DEFA Heimatfilmen” on Super 8 at the film copying plant in Berlin-Schöneweide and saved them from destruction. Amateur and family films, educational films from schools, commercials from the GDR, and 8mm replicas of great cinema expanded his collection, including sensational finds such as Otto Blessing's 9.5mm amateur films. Since 1994, Ralf Forster has been presenting short film programs he has compiled himself in clubs and cinemas. They convey an alternative, often overlooked film and screening history that took place in living rooms, classrooms, trade fair booths, and private basement cinemas.

Forster will be offering insights into his archive in three events. He will be showing all copies himself using the appropriate projectors. His collection can also be viewed at www.schmalfilmkino.de.