The Filmoteca de Catalunya will acquire the category of national equipment

The Filmoteca de Catalunya moves up in category. As a recognition of its work, the Government has approved the bill that will grant the entity the category of national equipment, and it will acquire autonomy and its own management, depending directly on the Department of Culture. This change will entail, among other aspects, that the entity will have its own legal personality, and that the resources of the Filmoteca will no longer depend on the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC), a fact that will imply a budgetary and human resources increase for the entity.

This recognition is a historical demand of the Filmoteca that, although it began to be processed in the previous legislature, was paralyzed by the change of Government, and now begins its parliamentary processing again. Once approved, the Law of the Filmoteca Institute will recognize the institution as the national equipment in charge of the preservation of the film memory of Catalonia —to preserve not only the films, but also the way they were exhibited during the 20th century— and the dissemination of cinematographic culture.

Thus, the Filmoteca is endowed with a new legal framework that will equate it to other national facilities in Catalonia, such as the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC) or the Biblioteca de Catalunya. This new legislation should allow this institution to fulfill with "greater efficiency its mission of guaranteeing the sustainability of Catalan cinematographic culture and its preservation for future generations," according to the Government.

The Filmoteca de Catalunya was created in 1981, and depended on the Department of Culture until 2001 when it was assigned to the Institut Català de les Indústries Culturals, now the ICEC. Among the functions to be developed by the Filmoteca are those of recovering, preserving, cataloging and restoring film and documentary heritage, as well as conducting research and supporting education and the dissemination of cinematographic culture, with special attention to Catalan audiovisual production.

During its first years of trajectory, the Filmo toured several movie theaters in Barcelona for its screenings, such as the historic Aquitània cinema on Avenida de Sarrià, where it was located for two decades. In 2012, the institution acquired a new dimension with the opening of its two headquarters: in the Raval neighborhood, it installed the screening rooms, exhibition spaces, and the Cinema Library, while the conservation and restoration center is located in the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya, in Terrassa. This year it faces a season of changes, the first with the new director, Pablo La Parra, after 14 years of management by Esteve Riambau.