Archivio Aperto Professional is the festival’s industry section, dedicated to audiovisual professionals — including archivists, directors, producers, and archive producers. Each year, it features panels and case studies that explore contemporary practices of reusing archival footage.
For its 18th edition, the program will present two events: an international masterclass with archive producer and researcher Monika Preischl, and a panel showcasing three projects from Emilia-Romagna that place archival material at the heart of their storytelling, addressing key political and social histories of the 20th century.
Archive Fever: working with archives. A dialogue with Monika Preischl
Curated by Michele Manzolini & Alessia Petitto
Monika Preischl has worked on over 40 documentaries for the German and international market as an archival researcher and archive producer. Her latest works, Riefenstahl by by Andres Veiel (Venice Film Festival 2024) and Six Billion Dollar Man by Eugene Jarecki (Cannes Film Festival 2025), demonstrate a reuse of archive material that balances philological and dramaturgical contributions.
The masterclass will address the archival research process, the ethics and rules for both archival researchers and archive producers.
Starting from the Riefenstahl case study, we will examine how many archives were involved, how the workflows established to communicate with the various departments were managed, and the organization that allowed for such a broad mapping of diverse and multifaceted materials.
In a synergistic approach of creative work and the knowledge about original sources, rights management, and budgeting elements, the work carried out by Monika Preischl represents the most comprehensive example of working with archives.
We will also discuss the founding of the GRAP, the German Researchers and Archive Producers Association in Germany, the need for networking, the need to structure a market presence, and the role of archival researchers and archive producers, starting from shared methodologies, work experiences and working with professional standards.
Researching, Reinterpreting, Reinventing: From Archive to Cinema
Curated by Claudio Giapponesi
The panel brings together three recent documentaries (all supported by the Production Fund of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Emilia-Romagna Film Commission) that, in different ways, unleash the evocative and narrative power of the archive. Diari della Liberazione (2025) by Matteo Parisini, Prima della fine (2024) by Samuele Rossi, and Radio Solaire – Radio Diffusion Rurale (2025) by Federico Bacci and Francesco Eppesteingher demonstrate how, through research, contextualization, and the creative reuse of both official and personal or non-professional footage, new forms of storytelling and shared memory can emerge. A dialogue to reflect on contemporary practices of creatively reactivating archives, an approach that is finding increasingly fertile ground in our Region.
With: Matteo Parisini, Federico Bacci, Francesco Eppesteingher, Giuseppe Cassaro (producer).
In collaboration with CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo – Emilia Romagna
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Credit image: Fondo Sergio Borelli (Fondazione Home Movies)