The Collection

Screen Archive South East holds a unique collection of screen material (magic lanternslides, film, videotape and digital formats and associated screen hardware and documentation) that shows many aspects of life, work and creativity in the South East.

We also collect technical apparatus that helps us to tell the story of moving images and screen history in the region. These include magic lanterns, old film and video cameras, projectors, editors and instruction manuals, which are valuable for teaching and museum displays.

Collection Criteria

The main criterion for acquiring material is that it has clear associations with the South East of England (the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and Kent and the unitary authorities of Brighton & Hove and Medway). It should have most of the following characteristics:

• it has been produced in the region either by or about an individual, family, community, society, institution or company;
• the subject matter represents life, work and creativity in the region;
• it has demonstrable historical, cultural and educational value;
• it informs and enhances our knowledge of our existing collection.

Occasionally, SASE may accept non-regional material that complements our collection of screen media and our interest in screen history. We do not usually collect material held by other archives.

For more information on depositing a collection with the Archive, see Depositing and Donating.