Remarks on a failed film archival project

This brief article assesses an ongoing infrastructural research project focusing on filmarkivet.se, a website devoted to historical Swedish non-fiction film. As a collaboration between film researchers and film heritage institutions, the project has to date failed to overcome conflicting archival interests. Film scholars in general need open online archives and contextual resources, while some heritage institutions seek to give access solely to a curated filmic past. While cooperation between the heritage sector and scholars is regularly envisioned as being mutually beneficial, it also faces difficulties that need to be addressed and overcome.