The following text is from a fictional novel, The Archivist’s Promise (2024). Leo works in a massive film archive. Leo believed that the entire visual history of the century was hidden in those metal canisters, and he established a rigid schedule to watch every reel in the collection. He was viewing the films chronologically, day by day, refusing to skip the tedious municipal records. He recalled that the first shelf dated back to 1901. He had been viewing reels for months and was still only in the late 1920s. Already he had watched silent comedies and factory inspections, jazz parades and grim newsreels. Despite his passion, he had to confess that the silent debates of city councils were a struggle to get through. But Leo was a historian at heart.