Cooperative Relationships
In the Summer of 2007 I had the opportunity to interview Todd Wiener, film archivist for the UCLA Film and Television Archive. We discussed the Outfest Legacy Project where UCLA is working in conjunction with Outfest to preserve films from the LGBT community.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive illustrates a good example of an archives working in tandem with another establishment in attempt to collect, preserve and give access to moving images of a socially relevant, yet under-represented group. A partnership was formed between the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Outfest, an organization devoted to preserving the film and art of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, to form The Outfest Legacy Project. The Project not only works to preserve and give access to better-known titles in LGBT film, but also solicits donations from the public. Everyone has an opportunity to donate their films to achieve an ample representation of the LGBT community and become a part of the collective memory of society. Initiatives such as these are tantamount in creating the kind of symbiotic relationships necessary for moving image archives. Not only do these partnerships facilitate a well rounded representation of society through the medium of the moving image, but increases awareness, outreach and funding potential for the archives.
