Analog Media Veneration: Santa Fe's Video Library, Basement Films, and Texas Archive Thrive Amid AI Age

Amid the growing influence of AI and streaming services, three institutions in the Southwest are dedicated to the preservation of analog film and video. The Video Library in Santa Fe, co-owned by Lisa Harris, is the oldest video store in the U.S., celebrating its 45th anniversary in August and boasting a collection of approximately 18,000 titles. It also features free movie screenings on Monday nights at the Jean Cocteau Cinema. In Albuquerque, Basement Films, a nonprofit with a 35-year history, organizes the Experiments in Cinema festival and conducts workshops while maintaining a 6,000-film archive. President Bryan Konefsky highlights funding cuts from the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities expected around 2024. Meanwhile, the Texas Archive of the Moving Image in Austin, led by Elizabeth Hansen, focuses on preserving Texas history through film digitization. All three organizations depend on passion and alternative funding as federal support diminishes.