The question of what to conserve, and more importantly how to conserve, will become particularly urgent with the opening up of the borders of the European Economic Community member states. Considers the choice of which conservation techniques to adopt, the swiftness of intervention, the creation of a European fund for conservation, the reconstruction and restoration of the most important works, free circulation with the establishment of a cultural circuit, the protection of author's rights and clarity of her or his rights along with those of the producer and the distributor, the protection of actor's rights, and respect for the public. These are the fundamental proposals put forward that take into account the standardization of the rules that govern the circulation of films, considered here as a link between different cultures and cultural assets. -- AATA