ARTICLE: ARCHIVE FOOTAGE FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES INSPIRING EMERGING FILMMAKERS

15th November 2023
ARTICLE: ARCHIVE FOOTAGE FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES INSPIRING EMERGING FILMMAKERS

Archive footage and historic newsreels play a pivotal role in documenting historical events, societal changes and the many cultural shifts helping to shape the world we are living in today. The very nature of newsreels plays a leading role in historical and educational research, an area we are passionate about.  
 
Our Reuters News Archive holds over one million clips, dating back to 1896 documenting monumental moments such as the Fall of the Berlin Wall, war footage from the battlefront lines and unchartered footage of the Covid pandemic from across the World. These all help to create a visual window in to the past to be cherished and preserved for future generations. 
 
Newsfilm for Education is a service that provides academic institutions unprecedented access to raw video coverage of international news from The Reuters News Archive. Staff and students at subscribing institutions can access, download and incorporate the video content as part of their coursework. Clips can be curated for specific scenes or stories allowing work to be shared non-commercially online at exhibitions, festivals and events promoting students’ work. 
 
First launched in 2022, institutions are signing up and accessing thousands of archive news clips daily. We have worked with Dr Shane O’Sullivan (Kingston University) and Dr Ciara Chambers (University College Cork) who create quality archive materials available to academics through the Archives for Education and Make Film History Projects
 
Dr Shane O’Sullivan told us: “The Reuters News Archive is an incredible resource for student filmmakers, offering unparalleled access to news stories from the past which can inform the way students think about the world today and inspire new creative work embracing film and social history." 
 
Dr Ciara Chambers has found access to the archive has created some real inspiration in students’ work: “Access to such a vast archive of material has inspired some really creative and accomplished documentary and experimental work in our students, who have gone on to showcase their films at public screenings and online, something that was never possible for them before. This project has opened up a new world of opportunities for our students.” 
 
The Newsfilm for Education Project aims to reach out and provide historical archive footage to Gen Z who have grown up in a fast paced digital landscape and world of tech, previous generations haven’t been able to, enabling a new generation of storytellers to create visually compelling narratives and content, forming a new part of history in the making.  
 
Ali Blake, Screenocean MD explains “We want to give this generation access to the best resources to learn their craft in a way that’s accessible and affordable”. 
 
For more information, contact us here