Dear Supporters,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support for my petition to access WWI films in the Royal Belgian archive. I’m excited to share a brief update.

After months of effort, we’ve achieved a partial victory: the To Hell and Back Filmproject has secured backing from a professor at a German university. The archive previously stated that university support was essential for research or digitization projects. With this backing, I’m highly certain we’ll be able to scan and restore these films for the documentary in the future—once funding is in place.

However, I only call this a “partial victory” because the petition’s broader goal remains unmet. Im fighting for anyone to have the right to request access to these films, regardless of institutional backing. While we’re closer to using these films for the 'To Hell and Back' documentary, the archive’s policy hasn’t changed to allow open access for all—a key aim of our cause.

so In short; I'm likely to gain access to digitize these films for the project in the future, which is a huge milestone! But I won’t claim full victory until the archive opens its doors to everyone, not just me and my project. Let’s keep pushing forward together!

Please stay tuned for updates and share this news to grow our movement. Your support is making history possible!

Gratefully,
Storm Boysen