Cinémémoire, founded in 2001, is a film archive of home movies and amateur films that collects, digitizes, indexes, archives, and promotes previously unseen films. Originally intended for

distribution within a small, private circle, these amateur and home movies have now become archival documents that have found their place in the public and audiovisual sphere. Cinémémoire widely distributes these movies to the public to serve as a tool for memory, shared identity, and cultural transmission. Cinémémoire’s collections consist of footage produced by residents of Marseille and its surrounding region since the 1920s, which has since been collected and digitized by the association. The first collections of films, launched by the Circuit-Court association, began in 1997 with a call for films shot in the former French colonies, initiated by director Claude Bossion for the production of his film Mémoire d’Outremer. Following this call, 200 hours of film were collected, giving rise to Cinémémoire.

The collection consists of a body of film archives from families who lived in territories formerly colonized by France. These documents offer a direct and often previously unseen account of daily life in colonial contexts, from the first half of the 20th century through the periods of decolonization. Produced outside institutional frameworks, these images are distinguished by their spontaneous and subjective nature. They document scenes of ordinary life -family moments, leisure activities, travel, local events- while offering a glimpse into the social, cultural, and political relationships specific to colonial societies. This “ordinary” perspective constitutes a valuable source for social and cultural history, complementing official archives. The assembled collection thus aims to preserve, promote, and make accessible a fragile, often scattered, and poorly identified body of work. It is part of an effort to preserve private archives as cultural heritage, while inviting critical reflection on the representations and memories linked to the colonial experience. Furthermore, Cinémémoire’s fund also include local film archives from Marseille and its surrounding. The city is filmed by its inhabitants, thus it highlits the emotional link one have with the places they lives in.