Vietnam hosts regional audiovisual archive association’s 25th conference

Hanoi (VNA) - The Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association (SEAPAVAA) convened its 25th conference in both in-person and virtual forms in Hanoi on June 23 under the host of the Vietnam Film Institution.

Opening the event, Karen Chan, President of the SEAPAVAA said that 2020-2021 is a tough period for archiving and heritage agencies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She noted that the current unprecedented challenges have posed impacts on all fields in the global scale, with archiving collections becoming a source of inspiration and drawing more attention.

The changing environment has forced people working in archiving sector to work harder to keep memories for future generations and create an important resource as well as a source of hope to overcome the current hard time, she added.

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism  Ta Quang Dong said the foundation of SEAPAVAA 25 years ago marked a milestone for those working in film archiving, showing the responsibility and dedication toward the cause of preserving moving image heritage of countries and territories of the region – a dedication that has stemmed from various authorities and professionals alike.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam always attaches great importance to the work of archiving, preserving and promoting film heritage, stated the official.

In recent times, the Vietnam Film Institute - an active member of SEAPAVAA - has made continual efforts in fulfilling its tasks in archiving, preserving and promoting the value of moving image materials in Vietnam, said Dong.

Hosting this annual conference on the Silver Jubilee anniversary of SEAPAVAA is a great honour for Vietnam, giving the country a chance to show its international commitments, and make contributions to the association’s activities, he said.

Dong expressed his belief that participants will share valuable experiences and lessons, sketching out action plans to develop and connect the work of archiving, preserving, promoting and disseminating audio-visual materials by optimising the increasingly popular digital platforms.

SEAPAVAA was founded in 1996 in Manila, the Philippines, with its annual conference held in a rotation format by its members.

As a founding member of the association, the Vietnam Film Institution hosted three conferences in 1998, 2004 and 2012.

The 25th conference of the SEAPAVAA will run until June 27. This is the first time a conference has been held virtually. A number of sidelines activities will be held, including an exhibition of moving image on Vietnamese tourism and a Vietnamese film screening./.