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Germany's only institute for scientific film, the Institut für den Wissenschaftlichen Film (IWF) in Göttingen, is threatened with closure following the termination of its government contract, depriving it of half its budget.

The move by the government last month symbolizes the tough approach being taken by the research minister, Jürgen Rüttgers, to establishments judged by the Wissenschaftsrat, Germany's science council, to be performing poorly (see Nature 387, 643; 1997).

As a ‘blue-list’ institute, the IWF is funded jointly by federal and regional governments. In the past, political pressure from the host region has meant that poorly performing institutes have proved difficult to close. But new institutes can be added to the blue list only if others are removed, and several institutes are keen to become members. At the top of the list are the Berlin-based Electron Storage Ring, a synchrotron radiation source, and the Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken. Both should be added to the blue list as soon as possible, according to recent recommendations by the Wissenschaftsrat.

The IWF acts as an audiovisual service institution for Germany, and its films and videos cover the full range of science from human ethnology to cell biology. Its archive of 6,600 films includes pioneering cinematographic works from the nineteenth century, such as the earliest studies of human movement disorders and film of the flight of cannon-balls. The IWF's most valuable documents are irreplaceable film of now-extinct species and tribes.

But in 1996 the Wissenschaftsrat concluded that the IWF had neglected developments in digital recording, and said that its lack of competence in, for example, electronic transmission of visual material suggested that it was unprepared for the global market. Despite several attempts, encouraged by the research ministry, to develop a new strategy, the institute was unable to convince the ministry to reverse its decision to withdraw its funding.

Ethnology and anthropology will suffer most if the institute closes, as “we are more dependent on films than natural sciences are”, says Paul Henley, director of the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Similar institutions in Japan, the Netherlands, Hungary and Austria have been closed over the past ten years, he says. “With only a very few scattered institutes remaining it would be a great pity for anthropology worldwide if the IWF closed.”

The IWF has one final chance to return to the blue list. The research ministry has promised to consider a new strategy, based on halving the institute's staff. The staff distrust the offer, however, believing there is no longer the political will to keep the institute open.

It remains unclear what will happen to the archived films if the IWF closes. Lower Saxony, where the institute is located, has its own state archive which could possibly serve as a depository. But scientists do not consider this a good option as it would mean leaving the recordings in the hands of non-experts, without production, distribution and marketing skills.

Lower Saxony has not indicated whether it will take over the full running costs of the institute or let it close.