This year's Retrospective, “Lost in the 90s”, tackles not just aesthetics and the zeitgeist, but also the lost heritage of films from the post-communist era: the turbulent period in central and eastern Europe when state production and archival structures were in flux, and film studios privatised or sold off, so that many works were not centrally catalogued or stored. The successor states of the former Soviet Union, such as Ukraine and Georgia, lost direct access to their own cultural heritage in the 1990s – even now, countless original negatives are stored in Russian archives.
Heleen Gerritsen in discussion with archivists and representatives of film heritage institutions in central and eastern Europe. The discussion focuses on (re)discoveries, lost films and the challenges of clarifying legal rights. The panel will also look at experiences with state security services and gaining access to holdings from the Cold War era.

With Heleen Gerritsen, Tomasz Kolankiewicz, Ivan Kozlenko, Stefanie Eckert, Eva Näripea