The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) was formed in 2009 by an international band of genre enthusiasts. It is the largest archive of its kind in the world, mainly focusing on the exploitation era of independent genre cinema — the 1960s through the 1980s. With approximately 3,000 35mm prints, it reflects the rebel spirit of genre filmmaking itself. AGFA exists to raise awareness of the importance of genre cinema through collection, conservation, and distribution.

With an active print loan program, AGFA titles are regularly screened worldwide at major film festivals and repertory cinematheques, due in large part to their rarity and desirability. Strengths of the AGFA collection include Horror, Action, Crime, Revenge, Women in Prison, Sexploitation, Hicksploitation, Blaxploitation, and Hong Kong-produced martial arts films (primarily produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio). AGFA also holds over 3,500 35mm trailers.

“It is specifically about the preservation of the type of film that we’ve been programming for over a decade,” said Alamo Drafthouse Founder and CEO Tim League in the Austin Chronicle, “and also […] that most traditional film archives aren’t doing anything about.”

AGFA is happy to help you or your institution make arrangements to borrow prints. However, first-time borrowers must apply with three institutional references and demonstrate the ability to project via a changeover (i.e., reel-to-reel) projection system with a licensed and certified projectionist. We charge a modest processing and rental fee and require that the borrower pay for shipping/handling services per our specification. Please note that many of our 35mm prints are delicate and some entirely irreplaceable. Due to the rarity and value of these materials, we demand that borrowers respect our prints. For more information on our loan program, please read the Loan Guidelines section.