Do not overlook
Before visiting the library, be sure to check if the opening hours are currently restricted.
library of the NÁRODNÍ FILMOVÝ ARCHIV
About us
The library was founded in 1943 as part of the Czech-Moravian Film Headquarters, the predecessor of the Národní filmový archiv. It has become the centre of intellectual activity of the film community - the library's services are used by all those interested in cinema in the field of theory and production. The library's rich holdings, which include sources from the early days of cinema with an international scope and undamaged by the Second World War, are sought out by people interested in film from all over the world.
Our mission is to care for the collection and our readership. The library services can be used physically in the study room in the centre of Prague or through the online catalogue, which offers comprehensive annotated bibliographic records and factual descriptions from a film perspective, plus remote access to licensed databases, digital library and other full-text resources for registered users.
The retrospective name and subject processing of the source book collection, including serials, is currently underway (9% remains to be processed). The personal, film and periodical separates collection and the screenplay collection are 100% processed. Our goal is to make information about the library's entire collection completely available online.
"We are part of the relay in passing on the memory of the national film culture to the next generation."
Contact
Where, how and when to the library?
Where we are based
Come either through the Ponrepo Café (past the cinema) or through the Convict Courtyard (ring the NFA Library bell). The library is on the 1st floor above the Ponrepo cinema.
Study room
Online services
Day and night you can find thousands of pages online. Search from anywhere in our catalogue.
Collection and Funds
What can you find in the library?
Books and bound periodicals, scripts, clippings from the Czech and foreign press, microfilms and microfiche, as well as a wide selection of periodicals. Take a closer look at what you can find here.
Composition of the library collection
- books and bound periodicals
- film scripts
- scrap-books - clippings from the Czech press
- microfilms and microfiche
- CDs and DVDs
- small print
- foreign clippings and foreign festivals
Original database of the Národní filmový archiv
- NFA Library Online Catalog - contains bibliographic records with subject descriptions and annotations of books, articles, scripts, separates, and periodicals in the field of film, including scans of covers and tables of contents. The original online catalog containing these partial and interconnected databases:
- KNFA Catalogue - bibliographic records with subject descriptions
- KNFA authorities - personalities, films, events, corporations - factual records
- KNFA Subject Headings - subject headings with English equivalents
- Subject Article Bibliography of Film - articles with film subject matter
- Collection of film scripts - titles, specimens of technical, literary scripts, storyboards, film stories
- New books in the collection - selected new releases in film literature
- Digital library - contains titles from the library's collection focusing on film and cinematography published in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic (bohemian) between 1911 and 2016, mostly in Czech (but also Slovak, German and English) with a total of 488,000 pages. These include film periodicals, newspapers, bulletins, newsletters of professional film associations and societies, popular audience magazines, film correspondence, film yearbooks, film scripts and other texts and internal publications of a monographic nature. Some 35 000 pages of content are freely available on the Internet.
- Filmový přehled database - contains complete data on Czech films since the beginning of cinema, including data on creative crew, cast, production, technical and distribution data, location and data on awards. Each film profile includes a concise authorial content and annotation of the film, images and biographies and filmographies of the filmmakers.
Licensed databases
- Media database:
- Anopress.cz - database of Czech media with archive from 1996 to present
- Press Reader (formerly Library PressDisplay) - more than 7,000 world newspapers and magazines with a 3-month retrospective
- ASPI - Automated System of Legal Information
- Foreign Film Database:
- Screen Studies Collection - 2 million records with a worldwide scope covering areas of film history, theory and reviews. Includes the following collections:
- American Film Institute Catalog (AFI) - A filmographic database focusing on American productions - about the source
- Film Index International (FII) - a filmographic database with citations - about the source
- FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals - bibliographic, full-text database - about the source - listing 410 film periodical titles
- JSTOR
- JSTOR I-XV - access to the complete archive of periodicals and other primary sources in the database . This includes more than 2,000 periodical titles in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
- Arts & Sciences III - A digital library for students and researchers providing access to over 12 million academic articles, books and primary sources from many disciplines including film.
- EBSCO includes :
- Film and Television Literature Index with Fulltext - an online research tool for television and film. The database covers film and television theory, preservation and restoration, production, cinematography, technical aspects and reviews. - List of film periodical titles
- Academic Search Ultimate - a multidisciplinary database of peer-reviewed full-text journals, including many journals indexed in leading citation indexes, reports, books and videos meeting the needs of researchers in virtually every discipline
- Screen Studies Collection - 2 million records with a worldwide scope covering areas of film history, theory and reviews. Includes the following collections:
- European Audiovisual Observatory database (access in the study room only)
- LUMIERE VOD - a directory of European films available on VOD in Europe. Here you can find services and countries where a film is released on VOD, with the possibility to combine search criteria (director, country or year of production).
Czech periodicals
Foreign printed periodicals
American Cinematographer (USA)
Animation Journal (USA)
Annuaire du Cinéma (France
Annuario del cinema italiano & audiovisivi (Italy)
BFI Film Handbook (UK)
Bianco & Nero (Italy)
Cahiers du Cinéma (France)
Cineaste (USA)
Cineforum (Italy)
Cinema & Cie (Italy)
Cinema (Germany)
Cinema Journal (USA)
Cinémas (Canada)
DOX (Denmark)
Ekrany (Poland)
EPD Film (Germany)
Film Comment (USA)
Film Criticism (USA)
Film Dienst (Germany)
Film History (USA)
Film international (Iran)
Film Quaterly (USA)
Film.sk (Slovakia)
Filmarchiv (Austria)
Filmblatt (Germany)
FilmMaker (USA)
Filmvilag (Hungary)
Homo Felix (Slovakia)
Hrvatski filmski ljetopis (Croatia)
Images (Poland)
Int. Motion Picture Alm. (USA)
Iskusstvo Kino (Russia)
Journal of Film Preservation (FIAF)
Kinečko ( Slovakia)
Kino ( Bulgaria)
Kino ( Poland)
Kinoscenarii ( Russia)
Kino/Ikon (Slovakia)
Kwartalnik filmovy ( Poland)
Literature/Film Quaterly (USA)
Online Millennium Film Journal (USA)
Montage/AV (Germany)
Positif (France)
Premiere (France)
Projections (UK, USA)
Screen (UK)
Sight & Sound (UK)
SKIP (Austria)
Studies in documentary film (V. UK)
Studies in Eastern European Cinema (V. UK)
Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema (V. UK)
Studio Magazine (France)
Trafic (France)
Variety (USA)
Original catalogues and card catalogues
The NFA Library's classical documentary collection, built up between 1943 and 1992, is very extensive.
Overview of original catalogues and card catalogues:
- Book Collection
- Systematic catalogue of books - MDT classification
- Systematic catalogue of books - film classification
- name catalogue of books
- Serials
- title catalogue of periodicals
- Script collection
- title catalogue of screenplays - sorted by film title
- directors name card catalogue
- Czech bibliography
- subject card catalogue of articles from the Czech press - sorted by subject headings, film distribution titles and personal headings
- Foreign bibliography
- Subject card index of articles from foreign press - sorted by subject headings, original film titles and personnel headings
Services
reading account
Come to our library
You can use our library for full-time study without registration. Registration is required for absent borrowing and remote access to databases. Would you like to set up a reading account? Just stop by the reading room during opening hours.
you might be interested in
Who can come to the library?
Our library is open to anyone with an interest in film. You can visit and use the library during borrowing hours even without registration. However, registration is required for absentee borrowing and remote access to databases. Just fill out the registration form and present your ID the first time you visit the library. After paying the registration fee, you can use all the services offered. We recommend that you set up a password for your reader account when you register.
The annual registration fee is 200 kc for adults and 100 kc for students. You will pay 20 kc for the issuance of a reading card. For a complete list of services, please see our library rules.
If you have any further questions about registration, please contact Jarka.
What is the purpose of a reader account?
The reader account is available to all those who have set up a password when registering. It is mainly used to order titles for study. It is always valid for one year after the payment of the reading fee. The account is accessed in the library's online catalogue (login). It is possible to monitor the current status of borrowings, the date of membership validity and the history of borrowings and payments, while offering a number of other options and functions (personal catalogue settings, creation of own folders with document records, SDI - addressed sending of information, disiderata...)
What does the study room offer?
In the study room in the centre of Prague, above the Ponrepo cinema, you can study all library collections. Up to nine people can study in the library at the same time, two of them on our computers. One workstation is dedicated to working with micro-documents.
Anyone can come to the study room during opening hours.
You can always find us in
Tuesdays and Thursdays
9 am -12 pm
1-5 pm
Fridays
9 am -12 pm
at Bartolomějská 11 in Prague 1.
What can I borrow and for how long?
In the library's collection you can find specialist film literature, film scripts, film clippings, encyclopaedias, biographies, fiction, film periodicals, film annuals of Czech and foreign provenance. The majority of the collection is intended for full-time study due to the uniqueness and permanent preservation of the collection. Information about the type of loans (in-house use, absentee) is published in each specimen record in the library's online catalogue. The loan period for absentee loans is 31 days.
Borrowing of books can be extended 2 times unless someone else requests the document. The maximum borrowing period for an extension is 90 days. Extensions can be made through your reader account. If there is another request (reservation) for a title, the system will not process the extension and the title must be returned.
Is there a fee for lending books and magazines?
There is no charge for lending books, magazines, etc. If you are not registered in the library, you will pay CZK 30 for a one-time use of the library service; you can study any number of books and magazines in person. Absentee loans are only available to registered readers. The annual registration fee is 200 CZK for adults and 100 CZK for students. You will pay 20 CZK for the issuance of a reader's card. For a complete price list of services, please see our library regulations.
How do I know what is and isn't immediately available in the library?
The online library catalogue contains information about the location and dislocation of the document. Documents marked with the HRAD dislocation are stored in a depot outside Prague. Documents marked with the PRIR location are part of the reference library in Prague. The SKLAD dislocation indicates the stack room in Prague.
How do I connect to databases remotely?
Remote access to the databases is available to all registered readers of the library. Simply log in to the online catalogue and click on the Licensed Resources tab in the RESOURCES menu . Using the link from this page, you will be let into the databases. Detailed instructions can be found in the attached PDF.
What should I do if I lose my book or pass?
It can happen. It is your responsibility to arrange for a replacement (get a duplicate or pay the cost of a copy of the document) and pay the 100 CZK fee if it is lost. Report the loss of your ID card to us and apply for a duplicate right away. It costs 50 CZK.
How do I renew my library membership?
The annual membership fee can be paid in person at the library or by bank transfer. Instructions for renewing your membership by bank transfer can be found in the PDF document.
documents
write to us
Do you have a question?
We will be happy to advise you.
Gallery
What is it like here?
Research
Look into the collection
In addition to films and books, the collection of the Národní filmový archiv also contains film-related documents, sound recordings and variations.