Cinematek

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CINEMATEK, the Royal Belgian Film Archive, is Belgium’s national cinematheque. It operates under the brand CINEMATEK and is based at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. It collects, preserves and shares a large film collection, with a special focus on Belgian cinema, and runs screenings, exhibitions and educational programs.

CINEMATEK is a bicultural public foundation funded by the Belgian government and the National Lottery. Its mission is to protect films and related material that have lasting artistic, technical or historical value, and to make them accessible to researchers, students, journalists and film enthusiasts.

The archive began on 9 April 1938 as the Belgian Film Archive, inspired by the early film museums in Europe and by Henri Langlois of the Cinémathèque française. Founders André Thirifays, Henri Storck and Piet Vermeylen wanted to screen quality films and preserve film history. The first years were tough, with only a handful of films in the collection.

After World War II, Jacques Ledoux joined the Archive and helped turn it into a professional institution. He built strong archiving and restoration programs and expanded the collection. In 1961, Ledoux helped open the Film Museum in the Centre for Fine Arts, which included cinemas and exhibition spaces.

In the 2000s, funding changes created financial challenges. The Archive was integrated with the Museum in 2002, and major renovations took place from 2006 to 2008. CINEMATEK reopened on 31 January 2009 with two cinemas—the Ledoux theatre (117 seats) and the Plateau theatre (29 seats)—and spaces for exhibitions and a restoration lab. The Plateau is mainly used for silent films.

Today CINEMATEK preserves a diverse collection of Belgian and international films. By 2011 it held over 143,000 film copies and more than 67,000 titles; by 2018 it had about 47,726 films and over 100,000 film materials, including more than 8,000 Belgian items. The archive also holds works by notable filmmakers such as Chantal Akerman, Henri Storck, Charles Dekeukeleire and Alfred Machin, plus collections from Belgian government agencies. It stores war footage and other historical material from Belgium’s past.

CINEMATEK’s holdings are made accessible through screenings, exhibitions, lectures, educational programs, publications and digital platforms. The center uses modern digitisation and restoration methods (the Digilab) to preserve films for the long term, keeping both analogue and digital copies safe in climate-controlled storage. It relies on open file formats, regular backups and careful handling of fragile materials to ensure future access.