Ils racontent FRAME : 15 ans d’expériences et d’impact

FRAME has proved throughout the current Creative Europe 2021–2027 programme, and even before under Creative Europe 2014–2020, that it is a key driver of the European ambitions for the audiovisual heritage sector, crucial source of memory, cultural diversity and emerging market opportunities.
By equipping archive professionals with cutting-edge skills and fostering genuine cross-border collaboration, FRAME reinforces the preservation, digitisation and creative re-use of Europe’s heritage works. It empowers professionals to adapt to new technologies and evolving market dynamics, while cultivating a truly interconnected community dedicated to safeguarding and activating our shared audiovisual heritage.

FIAT/IFTA proudly hosts FRAME Expert annually during its conference, a premier event for media professionals. This collaboration highlights our commitment to fostering professional development and staying at the forefront of the audiovisual heritage sector. Integrating FRAME Expert provides a vital platform for knowledge exchange and innovation.

At FIAT/IFTA, we strongly advocate for the power of robust networks in advancing the audiovisual heritage sector. FRAME is an exceptional tool for connecting professionals and projects worldwide, fostering collaboration and shared growth. Our support for FRAME stems from this conviction, as it aligns perfectly with our mission to build a more interconnected and knowledgeable global community, capable of collectively addressing important contemporary challenges like Green Archiving.

FRAME Expert consistently tackles the most pertinent topics within the audiovisual heritage sector, always offering a crucial global perspective. For FIAT/IFTA members, this provides unparalleled access to cutting-edge insights and best practices from around the world. These topics often include, for example, Green Archiving, the evolving role of archivists, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), through the EBU Academy, is proud to be a co-founder and longstanding partner of the FRAME training programme. Our role is both strategic and operational. As part of the editorial committee of FRAME we contribute to the design and development of FRAME’s learning objectives, ensuring that they align with the evolving needs of our EBU Members not just in the field of media archiving, but also of digital transformation, and knowledge transfer. We support the programme’s outreach, promoting participation across our membership and facilitating access to our broad professional network.

Audiovisual archives are one of Public Media’s greatest treasures. Preserving them and ensuring their broad accessibility is essential, not only to pass them on to future generations, but also to document our shared history and foster social cohesion through common memories and cultural heritage. Driven by INA, one of the world’s expert organizations in the field of media archives preservation and access, FRAME provides the toolbox and the network that our Public Media archivists, documentalists, and technologists need to possess to best manage, digitize, and make this vast audiovisual heritage accessible to all. FRAME also perfectly aligns with EBU’s commitment to innovation, lifelong learning, capacity-building, and cross-border cooperation.

One of FRAME’s added values is to highlight and promote the potential of audiovisual archives throughout the production chain. Particularly, FRAME’s involvement in the audiovisual media sector, through partnerships with various public service media and the participation of many of their staff, fosters the production of archive-driven programmes and information.

As part of the FRAME Mentoring scheme, INA shared its experience in this area, supporting Czech television in the production of an archive-based programme. Such inspiring example and the building of a network of professionals ensure the development of further transnational archive-driven productions.

When INA launched the FRAME training program in 2010, the objective was to create a space for sharing expertise and tackling the challenges of preserving and providing access to audiovisual heritage. Thanks to strong partnerships with FIAT/IFTA, EBU Academy and many audiovisual archives institution, and with the support of the Creative Media Programme of the European Commission, FRAME has grown into an inclusive, global initiative. It offers professionals invaluable knowledge, networking opportunities, and practical tools to adapt to a rapidly changing media landscape.

For INA, organising FRAME means bringing together professionals from around the world, exchanging experiences, sharing challenges, and above all, fostering a community built on collaboration and friendship.

I’ve had the privilege of engaging with FRAME in a triple capacity. I began as a participant in FRAME Tech back in 2014, which gave me my first taste of its unique energy. Not long after, I was invited to return as a lecturer—an experience that has remained professionally and personally enriching. Eventually, I also joined the FRAME advisory committee, where I’ve been proud to help shape the programme. Each of these roles has deepened my respect for FRAME’s mission and reinforced my sense of belonging to a vibrant, forward-thinking club of students, organisers and alumni.

FRAME had a powerful impact on my professional journey. As a participant, it helped me bring clarity and structure to a body of knowledge I had largely acquired through hands-on experience. That alone is a major strength of FRAME: it speaks to professionals in the field, regardless of how they came into it. I especially remember how it drastically sharpened my understanding of file anatomy — an area where I had poor knowledge. This solid foundation later enabled me to contribute as a speaker with confidence and precision.

What’s remarkable about FRAME is its constant ability to evolve with the sector. The team is clearly committed to staying ahead of the curve, regularly updating course materials and reevaluating programme content to reflect emerging realities in audiovisual archiving and preservation. One of FRAME’s great strengths lies in its international outlook: it brings together leading professionals and trainers also from the global south, ensuring participants benefit from a global perspective. This agile and responsive approach is highly valued by participants, as reflected in their feedback.

FRAME Mentoring offers something genuinely unique in the field: personalised, long-term professional guidance. The one-on-one mentoring model allows less experienced colleagues to gain sustained, expert insight from seasoned professionals who can share tailored advice, practical tools, and strategic perspective. This kind of exchange not only empowers individuals, it also builds bridges across institutions and countries, fostering mutual learning and professional solidarity. In a sector that often faces resource and skills gaps, FRAME Mentoring is an invaluable support mechanism.

FRAME is a unique training that breaks the AV archival world down and analyses it from every angle — preservation, digitisation, and reuse — yet treating them as one connected process, not separate silos. This smart approach, combined with outstanding networking opportunities, is what makes it so special.

I joined the first edition of FRAME Mentoring in 2022, and it had a lasting impact on both me and my organisation. With the standards and guidance The programme helped us reorganise our archive using professional standards, opened up new possibilities for the project, and INA’s backing added real value and credibility. Just as importantly, I gained a network and friendships that still shape my work and life today.

My role in FRAME is related to my involvement with FIAT/IFTA, in Preservation and Migration. I was involved in setting up a massive migration process with RAI and, although working in Research and Innovation, I kept a strong connection with media archives.

In FRAME I have been a speaker, a member of the committee and I was involved in hosting a FRAME training by RAI. I love to take part of FRAME because it deals with sharing knowledge and experience, as it is with FIAT/IFTA. It isn’t just about talking of tools and skills. It’s also about the meaning of the job and the relation with people.

Hosting a FRAME training for RAI had a triple value:
– One opportunity to have two attendees enjoying the training on prem.
– A challenge to properly show the work done internally.
– An opportunity to meet the various speakers and interact with them.
As a speaker, I would add the interaction with the attendees and knowing about their motivations.

For the audiovisual heritage sector the value of FRAME is to be one of references, known for training, but impacting on comunity building and for adressing challenges.

Taking part in the FRAME Mentoring Program was one of the most interesting and enriching experiences of my professional life. Initially, I applied to receive guidance on my work in the field of archives. Since entering this fascinating world of archival footage, data and materials several years ago, I have found that many problems and tasks have been difficult to solve without the help of various colleagues.

The FRAME Mentoring Program offered the opportunity to work closely with a mentor for a period of six months, opening up new horizons and possibilities. This seemed like an excellent opportunity to develop a professional relationship that could grow and advance in the face of the velocity and uncertainty of the modern world. Having a mentor who is available for consultation, willing to share advice and listen, and who can guide mentees towards their own solutions is a necessity in today’s world. Thanks to the regular, rhythmic professional relationship, which was overseen closely by the project manager — who was always highly present and dedicated to their work — my project was elevated to a different level.

I was supported and encouraged to step outside my own boundaries, try new things, give more, read more, explore, and be honest and truthful about my ideas. This line of work proved inspirational for both the mentor and the mentee. It led to my work becoming visible, as I became part of the FRAME initiative at the heart of the FIAT/IFTA World Conference. This in turn led to invitations to speak at various renowned institutions that are authoritative in the field of archives.

My organization also benefited from my participation in the FRAME Mentoring program. The connections, ties and opportunities I created have led other companies to recognize me as a valuable associate willing to dedicate time and effort to projects led by my organization, colleagues and myself.

I Applied for FRAME because I wanted to learn more about the newest developments in Audiovisual Archiving, and to validate where we stand in Groningen as an archive. I got more than I asked for, there was a wholesome community of people from all over the world, that broadened my view on archiving and acces to the archive in many different forms, where I will be forever thankful for.

I am a resilient audiovisual (AV) archivist thanks to my practical experience running an AV archive in the global south. However, I think that by exposing myself to the good practices in the global north, I may still grow professionally. I am aware that one of the most efficient ways for me to advance in my career is through FRAME Advanced Tech Program.

As a participant in the FRAME Advanced Tech 2024 Program in Italy, I was able to have a glimpse of the audiovisual archiving in the developed country. The program’s main lessons, particularly those pertaining to AI’s present and future, will undoubtedly be helpful in the workplace. But more than anything, it inspires me to teach the lessons I’ve learned from this program to the next generation of archivists in the Philippines.

The FRAME community provides a platform for connecting with audiovisual (AV) archivists worldwide. Because these like-minded people are generous in sharing the good practices in their organizations and projects, it is comforting to know that I’m not alone in this hard yet fulfilling endeavor called AV archiving. Hopefully, this advocacy will continue to thrive and support more upcoming AV archivists worldwide.

I chose to participate in the training program more easily because of the support as a FRAME Advanced Tech 2024 scholar. As a journalist turned audiovisual archivist, I was especially eager to enroll in any FRAME program in order to improve as an AV archivist. I will benefit greatly from my FRAME training in order to become one of the dedicated and skilled archivists who can preserve what remains of the Philippines’ audiovisual heritage.

FRAME is an essential tool for contributing to the development of audiovisual archive professionals. It also facilitates collaboration and encounters between people working in the highly specialised field of audiovisual archives.

After I met with Vincent Romain, FRAME mentee in 2022, my role as a mentor was to develop a schedule of meetings and training sessions with experts from different sectors of Radio-Canada.
After that, I had more informal contact with Vincent, off ering advice as needed.

Professionally, my participation to FRAME Mentoring provided an opportunity to discover the reality of a young professional working in a completely different type of organisation.
For Radio-Canada, it was a source of commitment and motivation for the people who generously agreed to share their experiences and knowledge.

I recently attended the FRAME basics training workshop, which I found essential for knowledge and skills for specialists working in the management of audio-visual collections. Thanks to the interactive workshop, the strategic and operational workflows of our very own Audiovisual Archives digitisation project were reinforced.
The facilitators are second to none, and were very knowledgeable, and gave us lifelong skills that I have now applied to my projects both regionally and internationally. Based in Southern Africa, FRAME helped to develop networks with international counterparts, and I found it beneficial for professionals within my region. I would highly recommend it!