Giovanna Fossati to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)

Since 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has annually invited a select group of film professionals who have distinguished themselves due to their contributions to cinema to join the organisation. In line with the Academy’s commitment to become more diverse and inclusive, this year’s new members originate from 49 countries outside the USA. 46% of the 2021 selection consists of women and 39% of minorities. In total, 395 new academy members have been announced.

Giovanna Fossati’s invitation to join the Academy constitutes major recognition of her work in the film archival field and, consequently, for Eye and its staff’s efforts to preserve, restore and promote film heritage.

Film scholar and curator Giovanna Fossati was appointed Chief Curator at Eye in 2009. Her book From Grain to Pixel (2009) is globally viewed as the reference work for the impact of digital technology on the preservation, restoration and increasing accessibility to cinema’s legacy. The translation of the revised edition (2018) was recently published in Argentina and Italy and is set to soon be released in Spain.

Fossati is responsible for the collection policy as well as for Eye’s academic activities. In 2013 she was appointed Professor of Film Heritage and Digital Film Culture at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Humanities.

In her twofold role, Fossati is involved in the MA Preservation & Presentation of the Moving Image. Together with the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) at the UvA she organises the annual Eye International Conference as well as a series of lectures entitled This is Film! Film Heritage in Practice. Eye and the UvA also partner in various national and international research projects into innovative approaches to film restoration, digitisation, presentation and access.