A recap!
Join us as we look back at FIAT/IFTA in 2025. This post compiles all FIAT/IFTA activities, from the FIAT/IFTA Seminars to the FIAT/IFTA World Conference, Archive Achievement Awards and publications.
Thank you for being a part of this incredible year! Here’s to 2026!
Network and Community
New Members
We are thrilled to welcome 12 new members to the FIAT/IFTA community this year.
If you’d like more information about FIAT/IFTA and becoming a member, reach out to the FIAT/IFTA Office via our contact form.
Membership Survey
FIAT/IFTA has launched a survey open to both members and non-members, exploring topics such as communication practices, community needs, engagement opportunities, and the value of current activities. Whether you are formally part of the association or simply engaged in the broader archival ecosystem, your participation will contribute directly to shaping FIAT/IFTA’s next.
International Cooperation
New Partnership – Public Media Alliance
At the FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025, Virginia Bazán Gil (FIAT/IFTA President) and Kristian Porter (PMA CEO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding between FIAT/IFTA and the Public Media Alliance. The partnership sets the foundation for long-term collaboration on preservation, media management, the use and value of archival content, and advances in media studies. Joint research, training, and knowledge exchange will follow.
Virginia Bazán-Gil and Kristian Porter at the FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025.
Photo courtesy by Moris Puccio.
Advancing Audiovisual Heritage (South Africa)
In May, FIAT/IFTA participated in the regional seminar “Advancing Audiovisual Heritage: Policy, Practice, and Cross-Border Partnerships” held in Cape Town, South Africa. Karen du Toit, Sectional Lead for Radio Archives at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), spoke on behalf of FIAT/IFTA. The session highlighted the role of international associations in facilitating knowledge exchange, professional training, cooperation projects, and access to funding.
Karen du Toit at the Advancing Audiovisual Heritage seminar in Cape Town.
Photo courtesy of INA.
Memory of Indigenous Peoples (Brazil)
In September, FIAT/IFTA was proud to take part in the seminar “Memory of Indigenous Peoples – France-Brazil crossed views on the challenges of preservation and access to audiovisual heritage: focus on the audiovisual memory of Indigenous Peoples”, held at the Cinemateca Brasileira in São Paulo, Brazil.
FIAT/IFTA was represented by Rita Marques, member of the FIAT/IFTA Media Management Commission, who participated in the roundtable “Challenges in International Collaboration for the Preservation of Indigenous Audiovisual Heritage.” The discussion focused on shared responsibilities, ethical collaboration, and sustainable models for safeguarding Indigenous audiovisual memory across borders, an area closely aligned with FIAT/IFTA’s mission to support professional exchange and capacity building in audiovisual archiving worldwide.
Rita Marques at the Memory of Indigenous Peoples seminar in Brazil.
Photo courtesy of INA.
XV Radio Biennial (Mexico)
In October, FIAT/IFTA took part in the XV Radio Biennial, themed “The Value of Media Archives in the Age of AI” and organized by Radio Educación in Mexico City, a key gathering for the public broadcasting community across Ibero-America.
Virginia Bazán-Gil, FIAT/IFTA President and RTVE Head of Archives, participated with the lecture “The Value of Media Archives in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, within the conference theme Memory and Future. Her presentation highlighted how public media archives have become strategic assets for creativity, innovation and research, while remaining essential tools for media literacy and the fight against misinformation. The talk also addressed the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence and the importance of preserving the public value of data and collective memory.
Virginia Bazán-Gil at the Radio-Biennial in Mexico.
Photo courtesy of Radio-Educación.
FIAT/IFTA Seminars
Media Management Seminar 2025
In May, the Media Management Commission (MMC) hosted its bi-annual seminar in Cardiff, Wales, in collaboration with BBC. This was the 12th instalment of the “Changing Sceneries, Changing Roles” Seminars, the theme being “AI and Human Collaboration: Partners in Archiving?”, focusing on media management, metadata, rights, new emerging technologies and changing skillsets.
Recordings and slides from the seminar are available to the public on the Media Management Seminar 2025 page.
Preservation and Migration Seminar 2025
In June, the Preservation and Migration Commission (PMC) held an online seminar themed “Is this the last train for migration, and are we really sure of the destination?”, providing insight into the consequences of technology obsolescence with respect to the migration outlook for legacy formats, and looking into the digital preservation challenges, for both digitised and digital born content.
The recording and slides from the seminar are available on the Preservation & Migration Seminar 2025 page.
FIAT/IFTA Expert Roundtable Discussions
Generative AI and Audiovisual Archives
In April, the Value, Use and Copyright Commission (VUC) organised an online Experts Roundtable Discussion on the impact of Generative AI on Audiovisual Archives. This roundtable brought together eight leading voices that engaged in an open dialogue about how to handle GenAI content in audiovisual archives, as well as how to use audiovisual archives for GenAI training.
The session recording is available on the Generative AI and Audiovisual Archives event page.
Money’s Too Tight: Commercial Value of Archives
In October, the Value, Use and Copyright Commission (VUC) organised its second online Experts Roundtable Discussion, this time focused on exploring how audiovisual archives demonstrate a financial value to their parent organisations. This roundtable brought together eight experts that examined value demonstration through licensing, syndication, internal reuse, new digital platforms and the potential for AI (LLM) licensing, whilst addressing challenges like storage costs, metadata, rights management and the use of AI tools to help unlock collections.
The session recording is available on the Commercial Value of Archives event page.
FIAT/IFTA Publications
Guide to Quality Control in Migration Processes
In April, the PMC published the Guide to Quality Control in Migration Processes, intended for organisations and people planning or undertaking a migration project, who are in any way responsible for the quality of the result.
In October, the Spanish translation of the Guide to Quality Control in Migration Processes under the title Guía de control de calidad en procesos migratorios was published. The translation work was led by Laura Alhach.
Media Studies Grant 2024-2025
The Media Studies Commission (MSC) is happy to announce that the Media Studies Grant 2024 and 2025 papers are available on the FIAT/IFTA website.
#AIPicks
#AiPicks is the VUC’s new curated selection of essential blog posts, highlighting key reflections on the fast-changing world of generative AI and its impact on audiovisual archives.
Rights & Risk Case Studies
This year, the VUC continued to enrich the #ArchivalReads section with the Rights & Risk case study series, offering in-depth reflections on copyright, access, and decision-making in audiovisual archives.
FIAT/IFTA Surveys
FIAT/IFTA published the 2024 Timeline Survey results by the MMC. These results are available to download below.
The 2025 results will be published next year.
FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards
Awards 2025
The FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards ceremony occurred on the Thursday, October 30th, evening at Cinecittà Studios. During the event, the FIAT/IFTA community celebrated the achievements of our colleagues.
The 2025 award winners were:
You can learn more about the winners and shortlisted nominees of the 2025 edition of the FIAT/IFTA Archive Achievement Awards here.
Lifetime Achievement Award 2025
For the first time in FIAT/IFTA’s history, the nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award were open to the whole FIAT/IFTA community.
The 2025 FIAT/IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Theo Mäusli, recognising his outstanding contributions to the world of media archiving. With a background in cultural history and a career spanning over 35 years, Theo has bridged the academic and professional worlds through his visionary leadership, pioneering work in mass digitisation, and commitment to preserving audiovisual heritage. A respected historian and long-time member of the FIAT/IFTA Executive Council, he has been instrumental in projects like Save Your Archive and is celebrated as a mentor, innovator, and bridge-builder within the global archival community.
Theo Mäusli giving his acceptance speech at the FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025.
Photo courtesy of Moris Puccio.
FIAT/IFTA World Conference
World Conference 2024
In 2024, the FIAT/IFTA community came together in Bucharest, Romania, for the organisation’s 48th World Conference. To celebrate a successful World Conference and to promote the 2025 event, recordings from 9 sessions were published on the FIAT/IFTA website and YouTube Channel.
World Conference 2025
The FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025 took place on October 28–31 in Rome, Italy, welcoming over 300 attendees — our highest number to date! Under the theme Everything is possible and nothing is true?, the 49th edition marked a new milestone for FIAT/IFTA.
FIAT/IFTA has made available a selection of pictures to view and download.
FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025.
Photo courtesy of Moris Puccio.
World Conference 2026
On the final evening of the FIAT/IFTA World Conference, the FIAT/IFTA President, Virginia Bazán-Gil, shared with the attendees the location of next year’s World Conference.
The FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2026 will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, with the support of our host, Cinemateca Brasileira.
More information will be available on the FIAT/IFTA World Conference page at a later date.
