Shared Collections, The Film Object, and Cinema Post-Scarcity

Abstract: While the concept of film collection has shifted substantially over time, the core approach of a collection typically involves the accumulation of scarce individuated materials. This article uses post-scarcity political theories as a means to conceptualize a different logic of collection based on proliferating forms of digital access. For both anarchist and post-work theories, post-scarcity refers to a theoretical state where automation negates many forms of work required to satisfy people’s material needs. Applied to cinema in its digital iteration, we can see a post-scarcity approach to films at work in the circulation of licensed and unlicensed files, as forms of artificial scarcity are belied by the proliferation of films in a variety of digital forms. Working through the issue of film as a medium and arguing for a future-oriented network of film sharing, this article offers a polemical take on film piracy and digital cinema’s expanded access to film history.