Why Now

The AFFF is motivated by two key drivers:

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The Urgency Surrounding Film Preservation

Digitisation now forms part of the National Film and Sound Archive's strategy to maintain the permanence of Australia's audiovisual collection. The emergence of 4K resolution technology means that more than ever before high quality digital preservation is within our means.

But available resourcing is unable to meet demand. On average the NFSA can only digitally restore three films each year. We are at a critical juncture. If large-scale digitisation is not addressed swiftly, the majority of our national film collection will not only be rendered inaccessible in the digital environment, but potentially lost forever to decay. We must act now to ensure its survival into the future.

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Supporting Australian Producers in an Emerging Digital Environment

The reality for many independent, even established, film producers is that access to global cinema markets is largely controlled by transnational distributors who effectively act as gatekeepers to audiences. But feature film production worldwide is experiencing fundamental change as new technologies in production, distribution and exhibition have prompted a re-imagining of the industry. New media is also changing the nature of film audiences and how they are engaging with media offerings.

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By assisting our established and emerging filmmakers to digitise their work the AFFF is also assisting them to compete in this new distribution landscape and removing some of the barriers restricting access to their films.