Duke University Libraries is partnering with the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival to archive the festival's award-winning films.
The 2007 Full Frame Festival will screen more than 100 films, both curated and in competition, in multiple venues in downtown Durham April 12-15. Of the 82 films in competition, 12 prizes will be granted; these award-winning films will be slated for the new archive.
Deborah Jakubs, the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and vice provost for library affairs at Duke, said the launching of this archive is "the fruit of years of collaboration and planning."
Duke University Libraries is one of few university libraries in the nation to archive documentary film festival winners, said Karen Glynn, Duke's visual materials archivist.
Glynn said the films will support student and faculty research and provide a resource to the university and larger educational community. In turn, filmmakers benefit from having their work recognized, physically preserved and made accessible at no cost to them.
"This is an historic event," said Full Frame Documentary's founder, CEO and artistic director Nancy Buirski. "For the first time these works of art which chronicle the world in such unique ways will be protected for generations to come.
"Our mission is to serve documentary filmmakers and we are honored to work with Duke to give these filmmakers' award-winning films a safe and permanent home."
Typically, some documentary films make it into art theaters, while others travel the festival circuit and disappear. Independent films suffer a greater risk of disappearing than larger-budgeted, studio-backed films.
"Full Frame identifies films that are truly significant yet, until this point, there hasn't been any way to assure that pristine copies of the films are preserved long-term," said Bob Byrd, director of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke. "By creating this archive, Duke is committing itself to providing enduring access to these materials."
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The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is held every year in downtown Durham. For more information about Full Frame and this year's festival, visit <http://www.fullframefest.org/>.
In addition to being a presenting sponsor for the festival, Duke works with Full Frame on a variety of other projects year-round. This year, Full Frame produced "Surveillance: Documentary and the Hidden Camera" in conjunction with the Provost's Lecture Series. The Full Frame President's Award, sponsored by Duke, aims to recognize up-and-coming filmmakers; the prize is awarded to the best student film in the festival. Also, Duke students are granted places in the Full Frame fellows program as well as internships with the organization throughout the year.