National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

About

The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), based in Canberra and known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national collection of film, television, sound, radio, video games, new media, and related documents and artefacts. The collection ranges from works created in the late nineteenth century when the recorded sound and film industries were in their infancy, to those made in the present day. The NFSA collection first started as the National Historical Film and Speaking Record Library (within the then Commonwealth National Library) in 1935, becoming an independent cultural organisation in 1984. On 3 October, Prime Minister Bob Hawke officially opened the NFSA's headquarters in Canberra.

The work of the archive can be officially dated to the establishment of the National Historical Film and Speaking Record Library (part of the then Commonwealth National Library, precursor to the National Library of Australia) by a Cabinet decision on 11 December 1935. [ citation needed ] It was continued post-War by the Library's Film Division.

After being part of the National Library of Australia (NLA) and its predecessors for nearly 50 years, the National Film and Sound Archive was created as a separate Commonwealth collecting institution through an announcement in Parliament on 5 April 1984 that took immediate effect. At that time, an Advisory Committee was established to guide the institution. [ citation needed ]

In 1999, the name was changed to ScreenSound Australia, and changed again in early 2000 to ScreenSound Australia, National Screen and Sound Archive. It reverted to its original name, National Film and Sound Archive, in December 2004. [ better source needed ]

In 2000, Screensound joined the PANDORA Archive, the web archiving project started by the NLA in 1996, as a collaborating partner.

Meanwhile, consequent on amendments to the Australian Film Commission Act which took effect on 1 July 2003 under the Howard government, it ceased to be a semi-autonomous entity within the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and became an integrated branch, later a division, of the Australian Film Commission, a funding and promotional body. The Archive Forum, of which filmmaker Martha Ansara was a founding member and Chris Puplick the chair, lobbied for the establishment of the NFSA as a statutory body from this date.

In 2007, the Liberal government announced the creation of a new agency to be called Screen Australia, which would incorporate the main functions of the Film Finance Corporation, the Australian Film Commission (including the Archive), and Film Australia.

Following elections in November 2007, the new Labor government implemented an election promise to allow the NFSA to become a statutory authority, similar to other major cultural institutions, including the National Library of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia. The National Film and Sound Archive Act 2008 became law on 20 March 2008 and came into effect on 1 July 2008, with celebrations held that day.

The archive's first board as a statutory authority comprised:

The archive's first board as a statutory authority comprised:

Main article: Australian Institute of Anatomy

The building to which the Archive moved in 1984 was the home of the Australian Institute of Anatomy from 1931 to 1984. Originally it held the anatomy collection of Sir Colin MacKenzie. [ citation needed ]

The building is often classified as art deco, though its overall architectural style is technically "Late 20th Century Stripped Classical", the style of ancient Greece and Rome but simplified and modernised. It features a symmetrical façade, a horizontal skyline, classical columns and a central entrance. The decorative foyer features images of native flora, fauna and Aboriginal art and motifs. Face masks of well-known scientists from the late 19th century and early 20th century are featured on the foyer's walls as a reminder of its previous incarnation as the Institute of Anatomy. [ citation needed ]

The building also features a landscaped courtyard and theatre. In 1999, the building was extended to accommodate the Archive's growth. The new wing's design is in keeping with the Art Deco style of the main structure with details and finishes to match the original look. [ citation needed ]

In 2024, the NFSA won the Architecture and Building Conservation Award in the ACT Heritage Awards for the renewal of the building.

NFSA is governed by a board, as a statutory body. As of June 2024 [update] the board members are:

Day-to-day management and strategic planning is performed by the CEO. Past and present CEOs include:

- Michael Loebenstein (2011– January 2017)

- Meg Labrum, Head of Collection, Acting CEO (February-September 2017)

- Jan Müller (October 2017 – December 2020)