Slovak Film Institute (SFÚ), Bratislava

The Slovak Film Institute (SFI) was established on 1 April 1963 in Bratislava. The film archive, housed previously in the Film Distribution Centre founded by Ivan Rumanovský in 1958, was moved to this new institution. After the reopening of the Czechoslovak Film Institute in Prague, the Slovak Film Institute was established as its branch office, and shortly after that, at the Congress of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the status of common archive of CFI and SFI was approved. The SFI became an independent establishment in 1991 and a member of FIAF in 2001. Ján Komiňár was its first director and he stayed in the office for the longest period so far and was followed by over 20 successors. For the last five years Peter Dubecký has been the General Manager of SFI. In 1968 the institution moved from its first seat at the Film Club on Rybné Square in Bratislava to Grösslingová Street, where its offices have been located until today. Since then, in addition to the domestic production archiving, SFI has also preserved selected films of foreign origin. Since 1969 the Institute has initiated a wide range of activities and historical research in the field of Slovak cinematography.

In accordance with the Audiovisual Law the Slovak Film Institute (SFÚ) carries out the following key processes and related activities:

The Slovak Film Institute performs these processes and activities as the only state organisation dealing with the audiovisual field in the Slovak Republic. Its irreplaceable role in the performance and ensuring of these activities was stressed in 2007 by the adoption of the Audiovisual Law, which came into force on 1 January 2008. The new legislation meant a substantial legislative change for the SFU and confirmed its position, orientation of activities, organisational structure and the way it has developed since 1998. In addition, it has increased and legally defined the scope, competences and professional involvement of the SFU in two main areas: - audiovisual heritage of the Slovak Republic and distribution, presentation and promotion of values of contemporary Slovak audiovisual culture and industry in a domestic, European and wider international context.