- API’s National Film Heritage Archive project funded by UNESCO
The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has provided US$21,348.00 to fund a National Film Heritage Archive project geared to the conversion and preservation of audio and visual information stored on video home system cassette tapes at the Agency for Public Information (API).
The National Film Heritage Archive project is being implemented by the API through the UNESCO National Commission and forms part of the Ministry of Education’s capital budget for the 2023 financial year.
The request for funding was submitted by the API under the Participation Programme for the 2022–2023 biennium. The approved financing was subsequently released through the local UNESCO Commission, within the Ministry of Education, for the purchase of equipment, training, and payment of fees to the consultant, Mark Cyrus of Master Room Studios Ltd.
Following completion of the training sessions, which began on September 20th, 2023, Jenique Baptiste, attached to the API under the Supportive Education Training (SET) programme, was assigned to perform the daily task of digitising and logging the priceless data.
Over 100 VHS tapes have been digitised to date. Director at the API, Sean Rose, said “Given the critical importance of preserving the audio/visual information that encompasses numerous government and community projects, speeches, national events, and other historical data, additional resources would be sourced and utilised to expand the digitization process at the API”.
