University of Chile and Cineteca Revive Historic Canal 9 Archive, Unveiling Rare Footage from Chile’s Past

Original article: Cineteca y TV de la U. de Chile rescatan archivo histórico de Canal 9 y sacan a la luz imágenes inéditas del país

For decades, thousands of films, magnetic tapes, and audiovisual records documenting significant aspects of Chile’s cultural, social, and television history were stored away in a warehouse.

Today, this invaluable heritage embarks on a new chapter. UChileTV, in collaboration with the University of Chile’s Cineteca, has launched a project to recover, conserve, restore, and digitize the historic archive of Canal 9, the former television signal of La Casa de Bello.

The initiative received funding from the Audiovisual Fund, as part of the Support Program for Audiovisual Heritage Preservation, aimed at safeguarding audiovisual heritage and will rescue a valuable film collection that serves as a testament to the recent cultural, social, and intellectual life of the country.

University officials detailed that the archive consists of «53 boxes of film material, each containing hundreds of reels of 16 mm films, along with another 30 boxes previously deposited in the Cineteca.»

Additionally, there are 64 cases of two-inch magnetic material, which will be targeted for recovery in future phases of the project, as highlighted by the university.

In this initial phase, the focus will be on specialized diagnostics and comprehensive documentation of the film material, aiming to determine its volume, conservation status, and necessary processes for its enhancement.

Simultaneously, approximately 20 hours of recordings produced between 1960 and 1973 will be restored and digitized, covering a crucial period for understanding contemporary Chilean history.

Alicia Scherson, the executive director of UChileTV, stated, «From the beginning, our clear goal has been to try to recover and digitize our historical archive. We have received full support from both Chilevisión and the Cineteca during this process.»

«The idea is to discover the treasures that may exist in this material, starting from the oldest records of the 60s and moving into the 70s, 80s, and 90s. This is just the first phase, and we are very excited,» Scherson expressed.

«Many people and artists have passed through the channel—Victor Jara, Violeta Parra, humorists, and theater figures. I truly believe it will be a very entertaining process to discover and piece together this puzzle of an entire era in the country, as there were very few channels back then, and what Canal 9, the University of Chile’s channel, produced was very interesting, and we want to recover that,» the current station’s director remarked.

Once restored, the recordings will be digitized in 4K resolution, subjected to image and sound stabilization and cleaning processes, and published in a special collection on the Cineteca Virtual platform where researchers, students, and the general public can access them.

However, the project is not solely focused on technical preservation. It also includes a dissemination strategy developed in partnership with UChileTV and the International Documentary Festival of Santiago (Fidocs), which will feature free screenings, cultural mediation activities, and a television program dedicated to showcasing findings, restoration processes, and the historical significance of the recovered materials.

We will continue to provide updates.