Deposit/donation of materials

Do you have 8 mm, Super-8, 9.5 mm, 16 mm, or 35 mm films? Would you like to preserve them in the best possible condition and prevent them from deteriorating? Would you like to preserve their content in a digital format so that you can access your images more easily and conveniently?

The Basque Film Archive, aware of the importance of deposits and donations from individuals in preserving the Basque film heritage, offers a free digitization service in the above formats. If you are interested in making a deposit or donation*, here is what you need to know:

• The Basque Film Archive accepts images filmed in 8 mm, Super-8, 9.5 mm, 16 mm, or 35 mm.
• This is a free service.
• The original images become part of the Basque Film Archive´s collection and can be viewed at its facilities.
• The Basque Film Archive undertakes to provide the depositor or donor with the digitized images and a certificate of deposit or donation*. Likewise, if the interested party prefers, they can specify the digital format they want and provide a hard drive for the digitized images to be transferred to.
• The images will be digitized only once, and the depositor or donor will be given a single copy of the material. If additional copies are requested, the Basque Film Archive will make the copies but will charge the technical cost thereof.
• The Basque Film Archive will deliver the images as they were filmed.
• The images must be related to the Basque Country, so any that do not meet this requirement will be rejected.

How to send

• Films can be sent by regular mail, courier, or brought in person to our headquarters (Tabakalera. Plaza de las Cigarreras, 1-2nd floor. 20012 Donostia-San Sebastián).
• The Basque Film Archive´s opening hours are as follows: Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday (8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.) and Thursday (8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.).
• Along with the images, it is important to provide the following contact details: type* (deposit or donation), first and last names, ID number, address, telephone number (landline and mobile), and email address.

* The difference between making a deposit or a donation is that, in the case of a deposit, the depositor retains the rights to the images, so if any person or entity is interested in using your images, they must request authorization from the depositor. In this way, it would be the depositor who would decide whether or not to grant permission to the applicant and would specify the terms of the agreement with them. On the other hand, in the case of a donation, it is the Basque Film Archive that would manage the rights to the donated images. In this way, the donor would not be involved in the process of transferring rights for the requested use and would leave it to the Basque Film Archive to handle.

Audiovisual production companies or individuals who own audiovisual products have the option of depositing their film (negatives, internegatives, positive copies, etc.), video, and digital materials with the Basque Film Archive. This type of voluntary deposit allows the owners of the productions to retain ownership of them and guarantees their preservation in refrigerated and climate-controlled storage rooms.

The Basque Film Archive also guarantees the visibility of these productions for researchers, filmmakers, and others who have access to our audiovisual collections. Under no circumstances will copies of these images be made without the express written permission of the owner of the exploitation rights.

Films can be sent by regular mail, courier, or brought in person to our headquarters (Tabakalera. Plaza de las Cigarreras, 1-2nd floor. 20012 Donostia-San Sebastián).

The Basque Film Archive´s opening hours are as follows: Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday (8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.) and Thursday (8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.).

Along with the images, it is important to provide the following contact details: name of the production company, name and surname(s) of the depositor, ID number, address, telephone number (landline and mobile), and email address.

The Basque Film Archive systematically receives in its collection the mandatory copies from film production companies that have made audiovisual works and received a subsidy from the Basque Government´s Department of Culture. The materials that film production companies must submit are specified in Article 30 of the Order of the Minister of Culture of May 25, 2011 (ORDER of May 25, 2011, of the Minister of Culture, announcing the award of grants for audiovisual creation, development, and production).

The materials and documentation to be submitted are as follows:

Materials

• A new laboratory copy, in perfect condition, in the format used for theatrical release and in its original production version.
• A copy of the production in Digital Betacam.
• One DVD of the work for each of the commercial versions released.

Documentation

• List of dialogues in their original version and in each of the dubbing languages.
• Six guides.
• Six posters.
• Six photographs.
• Any other promotional documentation of the work that is of interest for the conservation and dissemination of the film heritage of the Basque Country and which will in no case be used for commercial purposes.

The Basque Film Archive will review the copies deposited and, once approved, will issue the deposit certificate in the name of the Basque Government´s Department of Culture and send a copy of it to the Department of Cultural Dissemination and another to the production company that delivered the copy.