This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Screen archive goes public
14/10/2003
An interactive website to give ready access to an archive of more than 100 years of Scotland's film heritgage has been launched.
Culture Minister Frank McAveety said it opened a valuable window on Scotland's past and he praised Scottish Screen who have carefully preserved the archived film that is now available online to all users.
Mr McAveety said:
"Scots at home and abroad have a tremendous interest in 'the way we were' and our culture and heritage are central to how we see ourselves and how others see us.
"We are committed to ensuring that we preserve and learn from our heritage and the contribution it can make to education and to lifelong learning.
"The Scottish Screen archive has been in existence for 27 years but contains material from as far back as 1896. Films have been found, donated and acquired from various sources - including one collection retrieved from a hen house in Shetland.
"This continuing project reflects the social history of Scotland in the first century of film and will continue to preserve current work for the archive of the future."
Catalogue information is available online for about 20% of the total titles held.