Heidi Fial

REFLECTING THE CONVERGENCE OF AMATEUR FILM AND SOUND RECORDINGS

Humankind has always wanted to leave traces, and thus has invented technologies and forms of expression throughout history. Two important inventions were sound recording and photographic image capture. Nearly simultaneously, they were introduced for private use and became popular mass phenomena; nonetheless, they are studied and considered separately. Heidi Fial attempted to compare and combine historical amateur films with private sound recordings from the same era.

Eva Kapeller-Hallama and Heidi Fial discuss in an open round what impact this experiment has and what questions it raises.

Heidi Fial is part of the technical department of the Filmarchiv Austria as a scanner operator and in the field of manual film restoration, with main interest on small film gauges and amateur film, as well as nitrate based films. Besides she is self-employed active as a music producer, composer and instrumentalist with special focus on live scoring and soundtracking silent films. Also founder of the music label ‘Tonfliege’.