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Use of film may be a Human Right


Alan Duckworth

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In anticipation of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, filmadvocacy.org posted the following page: http://www.filmadvocacy.org/2013/10/25/unesco-world-day-for-audiovisual-heritage-choices-rights/ on Friday. Some interesting information in there, here is a quote from the page:

 

"It is of the utmost importance that filmmakers around the world continue to have the ability to choose the mediums and technologies that best support the preservation of their works into the future. Well-tested and proven technologies that facilitate this goal must continue to remain available.

UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on October 27th, 2013 is an opportune time to highlight the critical importance of maintaining choice in how audiovisual works are preserved and presented, framed in terms relevant to the artistic rights of filmmakers.

Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 guarantees the Right to Freedom of Expression for all and underpins the right of filmmakers to choose the mediums by which they communicate their ideas through their works. This extends from production and postproduction, through exhibition and into preservation.

Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

It follows that attempts to limit choice of medium, to restrict diversity, and to narrow options in this area are not only culturally damaging and unjust – they contravene fundamental human rights."

 

The above is just a part, you should read the whole page and the associated links before forming an opinion.

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Eventually, no form of media will be safe from outside eyes because it will all be within the computer, and easily back door hackable. The problem with this is filmmakers should be allowed to reveal their project when they want to, not have it purveyed by others looking for security breaches.

 

Film (to a certain degree) and Tape (to a larger degree) offer these artistic privacy protections and should be celebrated as viable options even if they become a very small piece of the pie.

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I know the feeling... tying Freedom of Expression to a specific technological medium is a bit of a stretch. What if my favorite medium of expression is the telegraph? 8-track tape? Ivory carvings? Analog NTSC broadcasting? Tube cameras? 3-strip Technicolor? Kodachrome? What if I expressed myself with pools of mercury or canvases of asbestos?

 

This sentence:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

 

Basically says that opinions and ideas cannot be repressed no matter what media is used, not that no forms of media can ever be obsoleted or replaced, that the technology itself has some sort of fundamental right to exist.

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Alan, putting a "read it all before having an opinion" disclaimer isn't enough. You didn't expect this kind of response? If that snippet you posted actually is the most concise statement pertaining to your position then well... ooh boy, good luck to you :)) if it isn't... then make it. (and good luck to you! ;))

Edited by Chris Millar
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I think film will never disappear, as vinyl or magnetic tape in music, because as a medium which have its own unique particularities, there will always be enthusiasts passionate enough to make it live. I actually dream for a post-industrial world where everyone could produce his own film or whatever other artistic medium, not depending of big companies tied to rentability, producing just what they need the way they want. But maybe I dream too much.

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We've had some whacky threads on here in defense of film, this one takes the gold medal. Bravo!

 

R,

 

Sorry, Richard but I am not worthy of your gold medal, a bronze at best. If I would have called the thread "Film use should be a Human Right", and expounded from there, then possibly. But, I am merely the conduit to pass along this article. What grabbed my attention in there was the concept that the medium of image generation is a basic right. I had always assumed that the right to generate images was "protected" under some kind of "freedom of expression" concept - but never thought about the medium.

 

And, it appears that this is "old news", essentially dating back to 1948. Also, to me, a key phrase in there is "...receive and impart information and ideas through any media... " - the boldface is mine. So it covers all choices equally, and for me, having access to creative "choice" is the important part.

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This is just absurd.

 

What do you expect the UN to do, buy up Kodak and force them to keep manufacturing?

 

The wording you cite is intended to prevent people from attempting to ban things based on their medium of expression, not to somehow guarantee the availability of certain technologies.

 

Access to creative choice is nice, but it isn't exactly a life-or-death situation and it is not a matter of jealously guarding some sort of infringed right. The UN regularly deals with things that absolutely are life-or-death situations involving some of the most unpleasant things that happen on this planet, and the idea that the pseudo-intellectual artistic prejudices of comparatively rich western filmmakers can reasonably be conflated with that is...

 

Words fail me.

 

P

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