Chris Marker exhibtion at the Cinémathèque française, 2018. Photo: FIAF

CinEx Lab at DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt

Where? DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt

When? 11-12 June 2026

Double Call for Proposals

New deadline: 16 March 2026

Organizing committee: Stéphanie E. Louis (Centre Jean Mabillon/ Ecole nationale des chartes PSL), Andrea Haller (DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum), Stephan Ahrens (Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF), and Christophe Dupin (FIAF).

Every year, numerous cinema exhibitions are organized to showcase a wide variety of objects, from posters to cameras to costumes. These objects are found either in temporary or permanent exhibitions of numerous film museums around the world. Unfortunately, in their day-to-day work, creating documentation on the making of exhibitions is not a priority for institutions. More generally, as is the case for most sources of institutional history, documentation is disseminated between the different departments involved in the production process of such events. Exhibitions’ archives allow us to reflect not only on institutional histories, but also on various activities and know-how related to the exhibition production process. In recent years, however, there has been a growing interest in the history of cinema exhibitions, and this has been partly intensified due to the many anniversaries of film museums.

The historiography of cinema exhibitions and a reflection on professional practices are the starting point of the CinEx research programme, which is dedicated to a global history of cinema exhibitions. CinEx has been coordinated by Stéphanie E. Louis since 2021 at the Ecole nationale des chartes, with the support of FIAF.

CinEx Lab Frankfurt 2026

Being part of the CinEx research programme, the CinEx Labs bring together professionals and researchers to discuss current institutional practices and the history of exhibitions and archives of exhibitions. The first CinEx Lab took the form of a two-day autumn school in Paris. Other events, such as conferences and workshops, were held in France in conjunction with French and foreign institutions in 2023 and 2024 (including a number of FIAF affiliates - Cinémathèque française, Deutsche Kinemathek-Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, Musée Albert Kahn). In order to better explore the practices of non-French institutions and develop collaborations with FIAF affiliates, CinEx is now joining forces with the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and the Goethe University Frankfurt as a partner for a meeting to be held on 11 and 12 June 2026 at the DFF in Frankfurt. 

The CinEx Lab Frankfurt 2026 will encourage participants to explore the past, present, and possible futures of film museum and exhibition practices. During a two-day conference, the Frankfurt CinEx Lab 2026 will tackle issues such as:

• The shift to digital curating and the connection/tension between the museum space and evolving digital practices
• Curating in a diverse society and for diverse audiences
• The changing role of film museums in a world that is shaped by the constant availability of images
• Past practices that could be used for the future
• Objects, displays and settings
• Guiding visitors

If you are interested in contributing to the two-day CinEx Lab Frankfurt, please send your suggestions for a paper or presentation (an abstract of no longer than 300 words and a short professional biography) to cinexlab@fiafnet.org by Monday 16 March 2026.

The workshop will take place and is hosted by the DFF in collaboration with the Goethe University Frankfurt. Note that this is an on-site event only, so no remote presentations will be accepted.

Hybrid FIAF Thursday Workshop for staff of FIAF-affiliated institutions

Although FIAF colleagues are welcome to attend all sessions of the CinEx Lab Frankfurt in person at the DFF, we would also like to specifically invite staff members of FIAF affiliates to an intensive hybrid session on the activities of our institutions during the Frankfurt CinEx Lab – in the format of a FIAF Thursday workshop. The topics will include:

• Archiving past exhibitions
• Preservation of exhibitions for future research
• Sharing cinema exhibitions archives
• Discussing and sharing practices and ideas on how to preserve our own history of cinema exhibitions as film heritage institutions

This “closed” session will be an opportunity for FIAF community members to share their ideas, experiences and projects. It is organized in cooperation with the FIAF Cataloguing and Documentation Commission and is aimed at the FIAF community.

If you are interested in actively contributing to this FIAF Thursday Workshop within the CinEx Lab by talking about the current practices, ideas or challenges of archiving the exhibitions of your institution via a 10-minute lightning talk, please send us a short proposal (abstract of no longer than 200 words and a short biography) to cinexlab@fiafnet.org by Monday 16 March 2026. Note that both virtual and on-site presentations will be possible for this session.

For members of the FIAF community who want to simply attend this FIAF session of the Frankfurt CinEx Lab, registration will be open via the FIAF website nearer the time of the event, like all other Thursday Workshops.

The information in this webpage can be dowloaded as a PDF file.