Public Lecture Series: This is Film! Film Heritage in Practice

Every year, Eye and the University of Amsterdam present a series of public lectures devoted to notable projects in the field of film restoration and film heritage.

In a series of six lectures, international guest speakers discuss in an accessible manner various recent restoration projects and presentation forms of film heritage, varying from pre-cinema to recent experimental films and Hollywood classics. Besides regular film projections in cinemas, the lectures cover film installations and exhibitions of film and film apparatus. Each lecture includes a film screening, sometimes accompanied by live music. In addition, various curators and staff members from Eye contribute to the programme.

This is Film! offers insight into what happens behind the scenes in film archives and museums and is aimed at everybody who loves film. The lectures are in English and can be attended as a series or on a one-off basis. Every year there are new guests and themes.

In a colourised vintage film still, a pair of hands work on an intricate embroidery of bright flowers on dark fabric

This is Film! 2025

Annual public lecture series devoted to notable projects in the fields of film restoration and film heritage, with international guest speakers and film screenings.

Adults sit and stand in the middle of a dark space, facing walls covered in colourful film projections. The projections are video fragments from the Eye collection sorted by colour and theme

This is Film! 2024

Under the theme of ‘Presenting of Audiovisual Collections: Experiments and Explorations’, scholars and professionals present and discuss archival practices and initiatives.

A close-up of a coloured film strip features rainbow-coloured plumes of smoke in the background, two figures in fairy-like dresses stand on the left and right (campain image This is Film! 2023 (Het tovertoneel (Segundo de Chomón, FR 1907)))

still from Het tovertoneel (Segundo de Chomón, FR 1907)

This is Film! 2023

Public lecture series devoted to notable projects in the fields of film restoration and film heritage, with international guest speakers and film screenings.