How to Work on Television Archives in France

In France, the law of June 21, 1992 required film producers and public radio and television networks starting on January 1, 1995, to deposit a copy of their output along with all the relevant written documentation used in their creation into one of three institutional legal depositories: the French National Library, the National Film Council, or National Audiovisual Institute (INA). This law instantly transported researchers from penury to over-abundance. To create and then manipulate a reasonable body of television shows requires a deep understanding of the logic and limits of the documentary tools provided by INA in order to navigate the ocean of sound and image, to envision and sculpt the series these tools have selected. As these audiovisual archives are nothing without information regarding the conditions of their production, airing, and reception, researchers must go on a quest for complementary documentation, both audiovisual and written, which unfortunately remains dispersed.