The project Exotic Europe Travelogues in Early Cinema is sponsored by the European Commission as part of the Raphael Program. The project was initiated and coordinated by the Technical College for Technology and Economics in Berlin (Fachhochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft). The partners in the project are the German Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin/Koblenz, the Cinema Museum in London, and the Nederlands Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. The project concentrated on the early nonfiction films, on the restoration of a selection of these films, but also on their accessibility and the context of presentation. The project consisted therefor of several parts. A travelling exhibition will be shown in Germany and Great Britain beginning in 2001. About 40 films have been restored and will be available again for presentation on the silver screen and during this edition of Cinema Ritrovato two short programs of these films will be presented. And last but not least 15 short nonfiction films from 1905 – 1925 are presented on a DVD. This DVD offers different ways of access: a journey through time and travel destinations on a map of Europe provide a chronological and geographical orientation for the user. In addition three thematic essays Travel, Labour and Posing for the camera show the diversity of early nonfiction and suggest three of the many ways of looking at these films. A short videofilm on How moving images survived gives an introduction to film preservation and restoration. The DVD, which supports the languages English, German and  Dutch, can be consulted in the secretariat of the festival.

Mark Paul Meyer