Archive's new Director
The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, today welcomed the appointment of Mr Paolo Cherchi Usai as Director of ScreenSound Australia, the National Screen and Sound Archive.
Mr Cherchi Usai, currently Senior Curator of the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House in the United States, is one of the world's most knowledgeable and leading authorities on audiovisual archiving, and has made a major contribution to international cinema culture as an archivist and curator, an academic, teacher, author and festival director.
'Symbolically, this appointment will coincide with the Archive's 20th anniversary and I'm sure that Mr Cherchi Usai's wealth of expertise and leadership will further build Australia's international reputation in film and sound conservation and archiving,' Senator Kemp said.
ScreenSound Australia and the Australian Film Commission became a single integrated Australian Government agency on 1 July 2003, giving Australia's film and sound archiving activities a specific statutory mandate and ensuring that Australia's national collection of screen and sound material is preserved for and enjoyed by future generations.
'I congratulate Mr Cherchi Usai on his appointment and am sure that he will contribute greatly to ensuring that contemporary and historical Australian film, television and sound continue to be at the centre of Australian cultural life,' Senator Kemp said.
MELBOURNE 9 June 2004
Media contact: Richard Wise, 02 6277 7350 or 0438 204 554
