2024/1 - #Open

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Openness as a creative principle: Home movies, found footage, and their second life in the documentary film Reconstruction of Occupation
Řehořová, Irena (2024) , S. 97-115
This paper addresses the concept of openness within the context of audiovisual archives and memory, focusing specifically on the repurposing of home movies and found footage in the creation of new cinematic works. Despite their inherently personal nature, home movies have emerged as valuable repositories of historical and societal insights, diverging from images and narratives offered by professional cinematography. Ensuring their accessibility to a wider audience, beyond their availability in public or private archives, is pivotal for their contribution to cultural memory. One effective strategy to enhance accessibility, visibility, and relevance for contemporary audiences involves integrating home movies and found footage into novel assemblages, such as documentary films: through re-use, recontextualisation, and reappropriation, the archival footage can be given a new, meaningful life. This study examines the documentary film Rekonstrukce okupace (Reconstruction of Occupation, 2021) as a notable example of such practice and argues that openness is a principle that was intrinsic to its creation, particularly in terms of the film