As guardians of audiovisual history, film archives have the responsibility to conserve, catalogue, restore, present, and make accessible film heritage for the new audiences in contemporary societies. This fellowship aims to critically assess their role within the socio-political, cultural and technological spheres.
Film archives’ collections acquire new meanings in light of current cultural frameworks, and through digital infrastructures and new technologies such as virtual reality and AI. As a result, the very notion of national film heritage is called into question, and new ethical and theoretical concerns arise.
Director of Collection & Knowledge Sharing Maral Mohsenin started as UvA Honorary Fellow
Maral Mohsenin, Director of Collection & Knowledge Sharing at Eye Filmmuseum, has recently started as UvA Honorary Fellow at the Faculty of Humanities. She will focus on new approaches to the study of film archives, particularly how new technologies and shifting socio-political and cultural contexts are reshaping archival practices.
By Redactie UvA23 March 2026
Maral Mohsenin (© Lisa Frisco)
Interdisciplinary dialogue and innovation
In her fellowship, Mohsenin will examine the importance of film heritage in today's world through technological, historical, theoretical, cultural and socio-political lenses. In addition to her research, she will be teaching in the Department of Media Studies, in particular to students of the MA Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image.
The fellowship draws on research in the fields of Film Studies, Media Archaeology, Archival Studies, Digital Humanities, Science and Technology Studies, and Cultural Studies. It provides an impetus for research and education in the area of Film Heritage and Digital Film Culture, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and innovation across these fields.
About Maral Mohsenin
Maral Mohsenin (Tehran, 1988) is Director of Collection & Knowledge Sharing at Eye Filmmuseum. In that role she is responsible for the preservation and management of the collections, acquisitions, conservation and restoration, academic activities, education, and international positioning of Eye’s heritage activities and collection.
Mohsenin has a wide-ranging background in film, with experience in film heritage restoration and conservation, as well as in film programming. She was Head of Programs for the Geneva International Film Festival from 2022, and worked as a film restorer and curator for the Cinémathèque Suisse in Lausanne, among others. Since 2022, she has also lectured in Film at the University of Lausanne. Mohsenin earned her PhD in film studies in 2022, focusing on the preservation of digital images in film archives.