Will the cinematic history of the 20 th century be destroyed by fungus? [Future History]

lots of twentieth century history and culture is preserved on film. But in fifty years, this history should be would becould very well be lost. And it’s all on account of pernicious microbes that eat away at film, in line with a new study.

Microbiology researcher Gavin Bingley worked with the British Film Archive to review a difficulty that their archivists had noticed over the last decade: Fungi were destroying their films, spreading from reel to reel in their storage facilities. Bingley discovered that these were the typical fungi Aspergillus and Penicillium, and they had destroyed some films beyond repair. Now and again, the spores released by the fungi were above the recommended levels, this means that they could pose some health risks to archivists working with the flicks.

According to the BBC News:

Cinematographic film has a layer of gelatin on its surface. This emulsion layer is where the image is formed but in addition provides ideal food for fungi like Aspergillus and Penicillium.

If the fungus forms a layer of mould on a film it produces enzymes which permit it to exploit the film as food and to grow.

So the wear and tear it is able to cause is irreversible as the mildew ” eats” the image stored on the film’s surface.

While all film is potentially in danger, it’s film that has been stored in damp conditions which is obviously to become infected in this kind.

The solutions? Obviously digitizing a lot of these films could be great, but isn’t always practical or possible. Archivists can try segregating moldy films from non-moldy ones. But most importantly, we want better storage facilities. The British Film Institute’s Ron Martin said:

” We go for cold and dry. As we speak, we’re building a new film store in Warwickshire on the way to hold our master film at sub zero temperatures and at around 35% relative humidity . . . In those conditions some spores may survive in a dormant state but if they’re dormant they’re not eating the film…. It’s certainly a huge enough threat for us to be building a sub zero and occasional humidity vault in an effort to cost several million pounds.”

If similar facilities aren’t used to store a number of the movies and newsreels from the 20th century, people of the long run may look back on that century as one with a spotty historical record at best.

via BBC News and Manchester Metropolitan University

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This post is tagged: british film institute, relative humidity, storage facilities, study microbiology, twentieth century history, zero temperatures