"Bits & Pieces" and the Aesthetic Value of the Fragment in Modernity

Peter Delpeut, filmmaker and former deputy-director of the Nederlands Filmmuseum (now known as Eye Film Instituut Nederland) argues that in every profession there are topics that remain unspoken. They are not willingly kept secret: we are simply unable to speak about them. Within the domain of film preservation, the film fragment is one of these unspeakable matters. And yet film fragments, often unidentified or decaying, populate archives in great quantities. Since 1990, a unique case in the archival world, the Filmmuseum has been preserving and proudly presenting such fragments in compilations called "Bits & Pieces". The success of this initiative proves that film fragments captivate the beholder: they "speak" to the audience because of their very incompleteness. It also shows that fragments can be a valuable asset for a film archive and are therefore worthy of preservation. This essay argues that film fragments, like other forms of ruins, are invaluable sources of constructive philosophical reflection: beautiful and yet incomplete, hard to define, they invite archivists and audiences to reflect critically upon the history of cinema, its canons, its selections and exclusions.