Audiovisual Archive
The Audiovisual Archive includes some 20,000 items, including 35 and 16-mm film and video.
African Studies Film Collection
The African Film Collection comprises Africa-themed documentaries, feature films, and shorts, including television series, which have either been made in Africa or have predominantly African-related content.
Human Rights in the AV Archive
The urgency to restore the AV collections in UCT Libraries Special Collections is underscored by their critical role in documenting the history of struggle, and transition to, human rights and democracy in South Africa.
Published Collections
Our published collections include African studies books, films, maps, newspapers, government publications, rare and Antiquarian books, and pamphlets.
Whose copyright is that? Perpetual copyright and indigenous languages in archives
Copyright is a limited-time monopoly. Which is a fancy way of saying that it doesn’t last forever. Eventually, it expires. Except when it doesn’t. How many things in South African archives have perpetual copyright? So very many.
Fragments of the African Film Collection Survived the Fire
Initially believed to be entirely destroyed by fire, the AV team has recovered at least 850 titles of the original African Studies Film Collection. They were kept in VHS format and have now been digitised.
Crate by Crate: Making Progress Visible in AV Recovery
The AV Archive (AVA) used to live in the basement of the Jagger Library. It was one of the first areas to be salvaged following the fire. As the water used to douse the flames accumulated in the basement, a decision was made to expedite...