Spanish Film Library and the Valencian Institute of Audiovisual and Cinematography participate in a European project on the First World War

Thousands of photographs and films will be available on 'The European Film Gateway' platform thanks to the work of 29 European film libraries and archives.

This year the first centenary of the start of the First World War is celebrated, within the framework of actions for this commemoration is the European project The European Film Gateway 1914.

Developed by the European Commission, this project has made possible the digitization of more than 650 hours of film material of incalculable historical value. All this material has been put online for the first time and is free to consult for scholars and the general public.

The project has been coordinated by the Deutsches Filminstitut (DIF) and 29 European film libraries and archives have participated, including the Spanish Film Library, which has digitized more than 780 minutes of film material from the time, and the Valencian Institute of Audiovisual and Cinematography (IVAC).

The First World War coincided with the rise of cinema as a modern and powerful means of communication. The documents from the years 1914-1918 that have survived offer us an eloquent representation of the social and political aspects of one of the most important events in the history of Europe, and also provide valuable information about the technical and narrative development of cinema.

It is estimated that only 20% of the films produced in Europe between 1914 and 1918 survive. Thanks to the EFG1914 project, a considerable number of these films, including newsreels, documentaries, fiction films or animated films, can be seen online for the first time. Thousands of photographs, posters and other historical documents are also available through the platform The European Film Gateway and from the portal European, the great European digital library.