Offering an intermedial perspective on memory studies, this paper contributes to the theorization of the (re)mediation (Erll/Rigney 2009) or transmediation (Elleström 2020, Bruhn/Schirrmacher 2021) of audiovisual memory. The paper follows Ann Rigney’s move from trauma to joy and hope when exploring the “memory-activism nexus” (Rigney 2018). 

In the wake of the new turn in archival studies, which understands “archives as incubators of social change and injustice” (Prelinger 2021), this talk looks at transmediations of activist memories in and through the archive(s). Mobilizing a transmedial approach (Elleström 2020), I look at archival practices as epistemologies, bringing together insights from film archival studies (Fossati 2021, Prelinger 2021), critical archival studies (Carbajal/Caswell 2021) and critical Digital Humanities (Thylstrup et al 2021). How can an intermedial perspective help us to address the media specific affordances of audiovisual archives today? Drawing on the on the notion of the archive as the producer, rather than as a source of knowledge, this paper will present recent findings from my research project “The Lost Heritage: Improving Collaborations between Digital Film Archives” (2021-2024).