More than a century of historical footage goes online

For years historical footage has been held in the Israel Film Archive and only those with special permission were allowed to visit the climate-controlled Jerusalem Cinematheque. Recently, though, a massive digitsation has occurred, meaning anyone, anywhere in the world can now watch more than a century worth of historical footage via an internet connection.

The $10 million project began in 2015 seeking to preserve, restore and digitise the audio-visual collection of the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

The archive launched in Hebrew in 2020 with English-language subtitles added late last year. Included are thousands of hours of footage, both historical and artistic, including some never seen before. There are more than 300 Israeli feature films and moments that span the life of the region, from elections and wars through to tree plantings and even commercials from decades ago.

There’s footage of children celebrating Purim at the Tel Aviv Zoo in 1959, film taken by Thomas Edison’s cameraman in 1903, Frank Sinatra arriving in the country and Sammy Davis Jr who drove straight from the airport to the Kotel to pray and leave a note.

Noa Regev, director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, told JTA, “We’re at the fun part where we can share this treasure with the public.”

Included in the historical view are full versions of footage that audiences may only have seen as moments in time, such as the famous Declaration of the State of Israel.

While only around 30 per cent of the archive has been digitised so far, Regev estimates that the entire collection will be available within the next five years.

“People keep discovering more materials,” she said. “The most fascinating materials are the ones brought down from someone’s boydem [Yiddish for ‘attic’], both in Israel and abroad.”

To explore the archival footage, visit jfc.org.il