RFP - Research Film Provenance. Annotating the film collection of the former Swiss Tropical Institute

The research project Research Film Provenance (RFP) proposes a new, uncharted way of conducting and publishing provenance research. By using up-to-date digital tools for video annotation, it tests a form of provenance research that fits the media characteristics of film, and especially films made for research purposes. Through annotating a selection of historical films from the collection of the former Swiss Tropical Institute (STI, now the Swiss TPH), the project strives to serve as an example for archives and scientific institutions that currently digitise and publish vast amounts of audiovisual material. RFP connects the history of science with media studies, practice-based digital humanities and colonial history in order to address four significant research gaps: firstly, provenance research on films; secondly, the history of research films at Swiss institutions; thirdly, the ties of Basel, its research institutions and its companies with colonialism; and fourthly, video annotation in the humanities.