Barbarella

Archive Researchers

Featuring: Juan Bello, Canada / Latin America


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Interestingly, you didn’t start your career in archival research but ended up working close to this field. Can you tell us a bit about your career path?

I started my career in the programming and scheduling arena, working for RCTV, one of the oldest TV networks in Latin America. My workstation was located next to the film archive, very close to hundreds of shelves full of old 16mm reels and 2’ and 1’ tapes. I was astonished to have access to those records and spent many hours exploring the collection. One of my findings was a reel containing scenes from Barbarella, images that had been cut out from the film by the internal censors in order to make it suitable for general audiences during the 70s. Since then I became aware of the hidden treasures that an archive might contain and its potential to speak about the past. Later on in my career, I became a documentary producer with the clear objective of exploring the use of archival materials for storytelling purposes.  (more…)