With the digital revolution, the transmission of knowledge and memory has undergone huge upheavals. All over the world, archives are migrating from paper to the cloud, and the tech giants dream of creating the first completely virtual universal library. In all fields of knowledge, preservation has become synonymous with digitization. What challenges does the ongoing abandonment of books create for the transfer of knowledge? What is the future of our individual and collective memories?
In a personal quest with universal resonance, director Oana Suteu Khintirian simultaneously explores her personal heritage and identity and the philosophical side of technological progress. More than 25 years ago, she left her hometown of Bucharest with only a few suitcases filled with books and letters. Now, she wonders about how to share these family records with her son. As a member of a double diaspora—Romanian and Armenian—she embarks on a journey, with many stops along the way, to understand her cultural heritage and how best to preserve it. While the digital shift allows us to imagine infinite possibilities—at the risk of becoming lost in the “Library of Babel” as imagined by Jorge Luis Borges—have we really grasped the impact the disappearance of physical records will have on thought and learning? As valuable vestiges of the past, are paper and handwriting imbued with a sensory value as important as the actual words on the page? And don’t virtual archives require just as much care and maintenance as their printed predecessors, raising fears that their obsolescence could sink humanity into a new dark age?
Beyond Paper takes us around the world and introduces us to “guides” of many generations and backgrounds who are building bridges between paper and digital. Filmed in locations including a “city of libraries” in the midst of the Mauritanian desert and El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires (one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world), as well as in Bucharest, Montreal, San Francisco, Milan, Copenhagen and Lons-le-Saunier, France, Beyond Paper features nearly twenty archivists, librarians, professors, philosophers and new media specialists offering thoughtful and nuanced critical reflections. Maria Sebregondi, president of the Moleskine Foundation, speculates on the possibilities of “augmented paper.” Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, describes the massive web library as “fabulous and terrible.” Maria Kodama, the widow of Jorge Luis Borges, brings to life the words of the Argentinian writer, breathing contemporary meaning into them as they echo Kahle’s descriptions.
The filmmaker also hears from members of a younger generation who’ve grown up with faith in a world in which textbooks are stored and consulted online. “It used to be the inkwell, and now it’s the charger,” one child says. Interspersed with this mosaic of interviews are the experiences of several of the director’s family members, who, having felt the impact of genocide, political upheaval and exile, have scattered across the four corners of the earth.
In this film essay, Oana Suteu Khintirian brings together the intellectual and the poetic. Instead of placing the virtual and physical worlds in opposition to each other, she freely navigates the continuum that binds them. The film is deeply evocative, using powerful images, sensual music and brilliantly fluid editing to immerse us in a cinematic experience that’s equal parts reflective and emotional. From the hot colours of the Sahara to the snow-covered streets of Montreal, and from the fragile grain of centuries-old manuscripts to blinking servers in digital libraries, Beyond Paper reminds us—at this critical moment in the history of the written word—that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.
In the era of the digital revolution, the transmission of knowledge is going through a profound upheaval as humanity’s archives migrate from paper to the cloud. How can we grasp the impact of the ongoing abandonment of books on thought and learning? What is the future of our individual and collective memories? Filmmaker Oana Suteu Khintirian is a member of a double diaspora, both Armenian and Romanian. In a personal quest with universal resonance, she embarks on a journey to understand how to preserve her cultural history and share it with her son at this critical moment in the history of the written word. This poetic and inspiring film essay introduces us to various “guides” from around the world—in locations including Milan, San Francisco, Bucharest, Copenhagen and Montreal—while freely navigating the continuum between the physical and virtual worlds. From the hot colours of the Sahara to the shelves of a legendary bookstore in Buenos Aires, and from the delicate grain of centuries-old manuscripts to the blinking servers of new digital libraries, Beyond Paper blends reflection and emotion, reminding us that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.
Researched, Written, Directed and Edited by
Oana Suteu Khintirian
Producer
Nathalie Cloutier
Line Producer
Mélanie Lasnier
Images
Etienne Roussy
Sound Design
Catherine Van Der Donckt
Music
Peter Scherer
Narration
Oana Suteu Khintirian
Additional Images
Philippe St-Gelais
Dan Popa
Oana Suteu Khintirian
Sound Recording
Catherine Van Der Donckt
Additional Sound Recording
Gaëlle Komàr
Julien Fréchette
Julia Innes
Research
Françoise De La Cressonnière
Olivier Lassu
Donald McWilliams
Cornel Mihalache
Production and Editing Assistant
Nina Bouchard
Production Assistants
Irina Maria Șuteu
Aude Villiers-Moriamé
Sidi Khattry Abadek
Editing Assistant
Philippe Lefebvre
Final Cut Consultant
Andrea Henriquez
Narration Consultant
Donald McWilliams
Translations
Kamel Bouzeboudjen
Carmen Cristea
Giulia Frati
Patricio Henríquez
Oana Suteu Khintirian
Translation and Subtitling
Trans & Sub Coop
Technical Support – Editing
Pierre Dupont
Marie-Josée Gourde
Patrick Trahan
Animated Graphics and Infographics
Alain Ostiguy
Online Editing and Colourization
Yannick Carrier
Foley
Stéphane Cadotte
Narration and Foley Recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
Re-recording
Jean Paul Vialard
Participants (in order of appearance)
Noa Davidovici
Oran Lassu
Mohamed Lemine Bahane
Abdoullah Ghoulam
Stefanie Nedelcu
Eloann Tranvouez
Sid Ahmed Habott
Marilena Șuteu
Abderrahim Hanchi
Maria Kodama
Brewster Kahle
Karima Bahaï
Bénédicte Millaud
Andrée Lévesque
Denis Lessard
Maria Sebregondi
Luigi Trentin
Dr Sha Xin Wei
Matei Bulgăr
Jean-Luc Buguet
Corentin Quierry
Lt col David Bernasconi
Dr Ioan Stoica
Ana Bulgăr Murray
Elena Marcu
Anca Dumitrescu
Andrew Scott Duran
Alexis Rossi
Additional Music
“Everything in Its Right Place”
Composed by Colin Charles Greenwood, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Edward John O’Brien, Thomas Edward Yorke
Published by WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC CANADA LTD. (SOCAN), for WC MUSIC CORP. and WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC LTD.
Performed by Radiohead
Licensed courtesy of XL Recordings Ltd.
“Pyramid Song”
Composed by Colin Charles Greenwood, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Edward John O’Brien, Thomas Edward Yorke
Published by WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC CANADA LTD. (SOCAN), for WC MUSIC CORP. and WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC LTD.
Performed by Radiohead
Licensed courtesy of XL Recordings Ltd.
“La Traviata, Act 1, Prelude”
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Ljubka Biagioni
Courtesy of Naxos of America Inc.
“Veradardziz”
Performed by Yeghish Manoukian
Courtesy of American Recording Productions LLC
Negotiation of Additional Music
Lucie Bourgouin
A very special thanks to
Donald McWilliams and Nathalie Cloutier
for their support and trust throughout the decade it took to make this film.
Special thanks to
Nathalie Barton
Matei Bulgăr
Ana Bulgăr Murray
Sylvette Cerisey and Sidi Khattry Abadek – La Gueïla Tours, Chinguetti
Françoise De La Cressonnière
Marieta Georgescu
Sabine Gisinger
Françoise Hartman
Inès Heugel
Andreas Hoëssli
Matthias Kälin
Olivier Lassu
Shana Loomis
Colette Loumède
Cornel Mihalache
Katia Nicita
Ian Oliveri
Roberto di Puma
Bujor Rîpeanu
Maria Sebregondi
Alexandru Șuteu
Irina Șuteu
Marilena Șuteu
Valeria Șuteu
Sylvie Trouvé
Theodore Ushev
Sha Xin Wei
Thanks to
Canada
Kerian Agassounon
Leonard Agassounon
Michèle Bélanger
Marc Bertrand
Maud Chayer
Larissa Christoforo
Luc Courchesne
Carmen Cristea
Carlos Ferrand
Michel Giroux
Doïna Harap
Sophie Joyal
Stéphanie L’Écuyer
Hélène Magny
Patrice Mangin
Marjane Meyniel
Myriam Ouellette
Isabelle Painchaud
Christelle Poleggi
Sébastien Tranvouez
Michael Yaroshevsky
Adrian Wills
CIPP, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Mauritania
Mohamed Salek
Habott Library
Hanchi Library
Wananne Library
France
Jérôme Callais
Jura Departmental Archives, Lons-le-Saunier
Military Barracks, Lons-le-Saunier
United States
Exeter Library, Exeter, New Hampshire
Internet Archive and its staff, San Francisco
Internet Archive, The Physical Archive, Richmond
Romania
Dr Doru Badară
Dr Ion Carabă
Ștefania Mazilu
Viorica Prodan
Dr Mireille-Carmen Rădoi
Armenian Church Sfînta Maria, Iassy, Romania
Biblioteca Universitară Carol I, Bucarest, Romania
Daria Tănăsucă, Union of Armenians of Romania, Iassy
Librăria Cărturești Carusel, Bucarest, Romania
Milan
Peter Jensen
Eleonora Kihlberg
Luca Mariani
Katia Nicita
Moleskine Foundation
Sketchmob Italia – Stefan Davidovici, Irina Șuteu, Matteo Schuber and contributors to the Bonvini edition
Argentina
Biblioteca Mariano Moreno and its scanning-service staff
El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires
Denmark
Navid Navab
Chris Wood
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design
For their inspiration, thank you to
Fernando Baez
Walter Benjamin
Jorge Luis Borges
Jean-Claude Carrière
Douwe Draaisma
Umberto Eco
Friedrich Kittler
Anne Mangen
Marshall McLuhan
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Walter J. Ong
Erik Orsenna
Orhan Pamuk
Platon
Marcel Proust
Michel Serres
Socrate
Maryanne Wolf
Frances Yates
Archives
Arena – “Borges and I” – RM Arts
Associated Press
BBC Broadcast Archive via Getty Images
Bits And Splits – Pond5
BuzzFeed
Carlo Stanga
CBS News
Cornel Mihalache
Courrier international
Elvin – Pond5
Google Books™ service is a trademark of Google LLC
Google™ search or search engine is a trademark of Google LLC
Government Footage – Pond5
IntechOpen
Journaling Habit
Kamchadal – Pond5
LiquidDream – Pond5
MAXIMUM STOCK – Pond5
Nishandx – Pond5
Ognennaja – Pond5
Pablo Picasso, Étude de têtes de femme 20-06-1940 (1940) © Picasso Estate / SOCAN (2022)
Pavel Ignatov – Pond5
Project Syndicate, 2011
Sergio Ramazzotti – Parallelozero
Swiss Radio and Television, licensed by Telepool GmbH Zürich, 1990
The Archival Collection – Pond5
The New York Times
Tomyt – Pond 5
Understandmag
Unknown photograph, Portrait of Pablo Picasso (no date) © Picasso Estate / SOCAN (2022)
Video Land – Pond5
Developed in co-production with InformAction Films inc.
Ian Oliveri
Nathalie Barton
Legal Advisor
Christian Pitchen
Press Relations
Nadine Viau
Marketing Manager
François Jacques
Marketing Coordinator
Émilie Ryan
Administrator
Sia Koukoulas
Senior Production Coordinator
Joëlle Lapointe
Production Coordinators
Chinda Phommarinh
Coralie Dumoulin
Alexandra Bourque
Studio Coordinators
Gabrielle Dupont
Pascale Savoie-Brideau
Stéphanie Lazure
Technical Coordinators
Daniel Claveau
Mira Mailhot
Interim Producer – Development
Denis McCready
Project Manager
Nicole Hubert
Executive Producers
Nathalie Cloutier
Colette Loumède
Beyond Paper
French Program Documentary Studio
A National Film Board of Canada Production
NFB.ca
© 2022 NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA