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Post by Greg H on May 5, 2007 4:58:59 GMT
hello all! recently i commented on another forum that someone who has connections with Sue Malden or FIAT should approach them with the idea that we set up an official charity for fans to donate money to to FIAT specificaly for helping the african archives. Regardless if theres missing british TV there, this would be a good cause and save a new generation of african tv buffs banging their heads against walls! Does anyone have the necessary contacts (or is anyone interested in the chance of recovering missing troughton etc) to start the ball rolling on this? If this is being done in top secret for some reason, then fair enough, but im sure the huge fan base would like to donate some money to helping underfunded archives. Those who forget the past are condemed torepeat it!! Please discuss!
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Post by Richard Harrison on May 5, 2007 12:18:38 GMT
Fully agree. I'm up for it if a little proactive group can be formed.
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Post by Richard Bignell on May 5, 2007 12:28:17 GMT
hello all! recently i commented on another forum that someone who has connections with Sue Malden or FIAT should approach them with the idea that we set up an official charity for fans to donate money to to FIAT specificaly for helping the african archives. As a charity trustee for the past ten years and charity secretary for the past three, I can honestly tell you, you don't want to even contemplate this route! ;D My other main thought is that FIAT is a professional organisation. Although they're not a charity, they are seemingly willing to accept donations to help sponsor their work as all charities do. I can tell you that the one thing charities hate, and by extension I can see this applying to FIAT as well, is being told "We're donating this money, but you can only use it for this particular purpose". If you donate, donate to the organization's aims and work as a whole and don't dictate to them how to spend the money you're giving, as they're likely not to accept it under those terms. Richard
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Post by Robin Stephenson on May 13, 2007 22:11:26 GMT
Richard- I don't know what charities you are involved with- but as a solicitor who has been a specialist in private client work for the last five years, any charity I have ever dealt with has no problem at all with a donor specifying what they want their funds to be directed towards- indeed I find the suggestion that a charity might refuse to accept a donation on this basis one of the most stupefying suggestions I have ever read. Do you know that there is a legal obligation for every charity to request to see a copy of the operative clause in a will for instance in order to ensure that the testators wishes are followed?
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Post by Richard Bignell on May 14, 2007 9:24:22 GMT
Who said anything about charities *refusing* to accept donations? I certainly didn't! But nevertheless I can tell you from first-hand experience that its a fact that for many charities it can be a major irritant when people donate with very specific conditions attached as to how the funds are used. It can cause no end of headaches. The fact that charities will accept donations under those terms does not mean that they like it! Indeed, many charites specify to people that if they wish to leave something for them in their will, they donate it to the general funds so that they can use the money in the best way they see fit.
That's all by-the-by though. The point is that FIAT *isn't* a charity, so they're under no legal obligation whatsoever to be forced to use donations in a certain way and they may well not agree to take any money offered if it comes with strings attached.
Richard
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Post by Doug Wulf on May 14, 2007 14:42:25 GMT
I asked Sue Malden about this in my conversation with her. Concerning FIAT, she brought up the issue of funding and said, "...we also find members to sponsor certain events at the conference or certain work we’re trying to do." Here is the quote in the context of our conversation on this:
DW: Returning to the earlier question, what do you see as the prospects for finding more missing episodes in Africa?
SM: FIAT is focusing on Africa, particularly West Africa, in the sense of giving support. I have to say, FIAT is a voluntary organisation that has very limited funds. And with our funds, we run the website and the annual conference as well as giving professional archive management advice. One has to then start trying to raise money in order to do things. And what we’ve been successfully in doing is finding some funding to support the costs of some archivists from French-speaking North African archives to come to FIAT conferences. And from that core of people, we’re trying to build on a local network of these archivists.
DW: Does FIAT take donations?
SM: Yes, it certainly accepts sponsorship and, in fact, we try and promote as much sponsorship or get funding into sponsorship as much as we can. It varies. Some of our members are what you call ‘sponsor members.’ They’re company members who clearly get benefits from FIAT membership and talk about their products and services. But we also find members to sponsor certain events at the conference or certain work we’re trying to do. This UN project is looking at that on a much larger scale. So, yes, FIAT will accept funding.
DW: When you come across the report on a website that there are thousands upon thousands of unlabelled 16mm prints in Zambia or that there were quite a few episodes sent to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, as a fan of the programme, it seems that it’s perhaps just lack of organisation or lack of funds to have anyone actually look at these prints. The idea is that it would be nice if some money could somehow be raised for this. Perhaps through FIAT, fans could contribute to a fund. Of course, there would be subsidiary benefits because whatever would be found, not just that programme but whatever, would be preserved.
SM: Yes, exactly.
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Post by Greg H on May 17, 2007 18:04:13 GMT
Well that would seem to vary with what Richard has to say and so I guess Sue Malden must be wrong about FIAT then what would she know anyway! Anyway, it would be good if someone who has contact with Sue approached her to see if FIAT quite rightly wanted to snub our offer of money or if they were interested in funding from the shows large fan base. Its just an idea, but then im not an expert
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Post by Doug Wulf on May 18, 2007 21:28:13 GMT
Well that would seem to vary with what Richard has to say and so I guess Sue Malden must be wrong about FIAT then what would she know anyway! Anyway, it would be good if someone who has contact with Sue approached her to see if FIAT quite rightly wanted to snub our offer of money or if they were interested in funding from the shows large fan base. Its just an idea, but then im not an expert Well, Richard has voiced clear opposition more than once to the communication of such questions by members of the general public. In response to the idea that the British Council in Zambia might be notified, he stated, "As I've already pointed out in the other thread ... this matter is already being dealt with via the proper and official channels" as well as "Why are you not happy to let things to run their course?" That's fine, yet it would indeed be great to learn at some stage that there is no longer any financial obstacle of the sort that Sue Malden specifically mentioned to me in our conversation and that the director of the Zambian archive, Mr. Imanga Imakando, was specifically quoted less than two months ago as saying was a real problem. On March 21, Mr. Imakando wrote: "...The materials in question have not been used for decades due to lack of appropriate equipment. We are currently vigorously trying to source funds for purchase or hire of required playback/dubbing facilities to enable us migrate the materials from old formats to the current. The required equipment however is not only too expensive but it is also not available on the world market, or so we've been made to believe. I'm personally very worried about the state of information recorded on these formats, considering that their lifespan may have expired years back and the fact that the rooms in which these materials are stored are too hot, moist and dusty - they are simply not ideal for the purpose of preservation of audio-visual materials. Besides, even if we came across some of these precious materials (including indegenous recordings), we still won't be able access their contents. Staffing is another serious challenge. All the archives are not manned as a result. All staff restricted to the Library. The concept of recruiting Archivists is still very alien in most institutions here..." Of course, I am curious to learn eventually if a way forward has been found. If, as Sue Malden suggests, the impediment is merely one of raising sufficient funds for equipment and people to accomplish the task, funds that Mr. Imakando states ZNBC is "vigourously trying to source," if no such money has yet been found, I hope that an opportunity to contribute to this effort might be made available to those of us who would be willing to assist. It seems to me that a polite expression of willingness to assist should never be snubbed, but it could be certainly declined if other funds have already been found for this purpose and (somehow?) no amount of additional money would be helpful or necessary.
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Post by Greg H on May 20, 2007 17:48:48 GMT
Yes, it all strikes me as a bit odd really. If something is being done, i.e. that funding is no longer required, why all the secrecy? Its not a negotiaton with some power mad collector is it, its communicating with a very official organisation. And if funds are needed, we have them to give, if not then we can drop the idea, right?
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Post by Daniel E on May 22, 2007 20:59:31 GMT
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Post by Greg H on May 28, 2007 2:53:03 GMT
Interesting article and its great that a big name is doing all they can, after all its not only about dr who (although obviously thats a big one for a lot of us) it would be nice to see more early cinema preserved. Has any progress been made on this particular African issue, or is that a stupid question? Oh yeah, and has anyone got martins mobile number so I can give him a shout :lol:
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Post by Doug Wulf on May 29, 2007 21:41:29 GMT
Interesting article and its great that a big name is doing all they can, after all its not only about dr who (although obviously thats a big one for a lot of us) it would be nice to see more early cinema preserved. Has any progress been made on this particular African issue, or is that a stupid question? Oh yeah, and has anyone got martins mobile number so I can give him a shout :lol: There has been virtually nothing said on the matter recently. It would be great to hear that at least some funding from somewhere has been secured to address the archive situation at ZNBC. It would be disappointing if lack of funding were a roadblock now. Uganda also has a TV archive described online as large, understaffed, with insufficient equipment, and in disarray. That would be another reasonable place to look for missing episodes and other lost BBC material if there were some money to do so. Nigeria deserves another look too probably, as well as a number of other African nations.
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Post by B Thomas on May 29, 2007 23:58:30 GMT
Well... good luck to you, then.
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Post by Doug Wulf on May 31, 2007 12:01:45 GMT
Well... good luck to you, then. Well, not good luck to me, but rather, good luck to FIAT. That organization is specifically involved with the preservation of audiovisual archives around the world, having already done valuable work elsewhere in Africa. There is already a FIAT-sponsored individual in the National Archives of Zambia apparently. FIAT published a plan to safe the ZNBC archive back in 2003... www.fiatifta.org/aboutfiat/organisation/commissions/training/lusaka_workshop.html...suggesting help from archivists in South Africa. It seemingly never was implemented due to lack of funds. I hope that problem will be solved, if it isn't already.
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Post by Doug Wulf on May 31, 2007 12:06:05 GMT
It's just that Branko Bubenik of FIAT wrote back on April 23, 2003...
"Surely, it's neccesary to find sponsors who will support this." (saving the ZNBC archive)
Two months ago, the archive director at ZNBC wrote that sponsors are still being sought.
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