APUNTOLAPOSPO

_Restoring the future

[16.07.2009]

Apuntolapospo has been chosen, through a public selection competition,
to carry out the project of digitalizing the National Archive of Catalonia.

The material to be restored was filmed between 1920 and 1930. A collection of considerable historical value, it is in good condition because part of the celluloid has remained intact. The archive is also interesting because it includes some rarer formats, such as 9.5 mm film, which was launched on the market in 1922 by the Pathé Brothers. Even today, this format has a small number of fans, despite the problems caused by its curious yet characteristic central perforation.

Apuntolapospo is able to bring this cinematic relic to the digital retina because we designed a digitalization process specifically for this production, re-splicing the negatives and carrying out a physical restoration of the material for conversion to digital format. It later underwent a digital restoration process, obtaining maximum stability and achieving a uniform clarity of image. The processes and care needed when handling such prized material even led the company to recreate tools from that time.

For exceptional and complicated tasks such as working with 9.5 mm, Apuntolapospo obtained the use of authentic projectors from the early 20th century. These “contraptions” are a part of the 15,000-piece collection belonging to the prestigious expert Josep M. Queraltó.