Today, we are pleased to present the first interview of the Beyond Theory project in 2026. This interview features Virginia Bazán-Gil, Director of Archives at RTVE and President of FIAT/IFTA, and was conducted by Juan Alonso.
About the series
Beyond Theory is a project of the ICA/PAAG Expert Group, launched in 2022, which aims to provide content related to photographic and audiovisual management, offering operational possibilities through a pragmatic approach. The main objective of this initiative is to interview relevant and highly experienced professionals involved in different aspects of the audiovisual and photographic workflow.
To learn about previous projects please click the link: Beyond Theory. The interview series by PAAG – ICA
Image Copyright : Moris Puccio
Interview
1.
With more than 20 years of experience in one of the most important television archives in Europe, could you briefly introduce the RTVE Archive? What is its mission, how did it originate, and what materials does it preserve? What key figures stand out in its historical trajectory? Why would you consider it central to national and international audiovisual memory? And finally, how is the team that manages it structured?
The mission of the RTVE Archive is to preserve and facilitate access to the audiovisual and sound production of Radio Televisión Española, ensuring that this heritage is available for broadcasting, the creation of new content, research, dissemination, and the country’s collective memory.
Our vision is that of a modern, digital, and connected archive: a living space that preserves the past while supporting the present, guaranteeing access to audiovisual heritage as a public service and actively contributing to audiovisual production and culture.
The RTVE Archive holds 24 million documents across different media and formats. It is essentially made up of the collections of Televisión Española (TVE) and Radio Nacional de España (RNE).
In the television domain, the oldest recordings preserved date back to the late 1950s, and from 1962 onwards the regular preservation of in-house production began. From the 1980s, this process became systematic, making it possible to gather 3,975,000 documents and more than 1,450,000 hours of content. The TVE collections include news, cultural, educational, and entertainment programmes, as well as special coverage and historic broadcasts documenting the country’s main social, political, and cultural events, including productions from regional centres and correspondents.