‘Save Our Film Archive’ campaign launched by The High Wycombe Society

A selection of the more than 100 cans of 16mm cine film depicting events in and around High Wycombe.

The High Wycombe Society has launched a campaign to preserve a collection of 16mm films of local historical interest.

The aim of the ‘Save Our Film Archive’ campaign is to digitise more than a hundred 16mm films, some of which are in need of expert attention, and make them more widely accessible as well as preserving them for future generations.

Previously the films belonged to the High Wycombe Film Society, an organisation which no longer exists.

Until the films are digitised nobody knows exactly what is on any of them however the labels on the cans give a good indication as to the possible contents. For example some of the cans of film bear labels such as ‘Wycombe Show 1949’, ‘Coronation 1937’, ‘Bucks Pictorials 1953 – 1959’, ‘John Hampden’ and ‘Silver Jubilee 1977’, while the labels on several cans appear to indicate their contents showcase BroomWade and the products they made.

Further information of the ‘Save Our Film Archive’ campaign, as well as details on how to donate funds to help with the project, is available on the JustGiving website at : https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/SaveOurFilmArchive.

The digitising process will start as soon as sufficient funds to make an incremental start have been raised.