In the recent years, audiovisual heritage has been increasingly recognized as a vital resource for political, historical and social research. In several countries audiovisual material, i.e. film, video and audio, have gained full recognition as part of their cultural heritage. The article is based on a MLIS thesis at the University of Iceland that researched the historical development and present situation of ten Icelandic audiovisual archives and collections preserving unique audiovisual material. Case study and qualitative research methods were used. A literature review was supplemented by original data collected by conducting interviews with the staff of ten audiovisual collections. The article gives an overview of these collections and their present situation in terms of preservation, digitization, collection size, storage conditions, cataloguing and staff. An attempt is made to seek an understanding of the extent to which the authorities have recognized audiovisual documents as part of Icelandic cultural heritage. Icelandic cultural policies have evolved in a text-orientated environment, the roots of which lie in a literary tradition of more than 700 years, most prominently represented by the Icelandic Sagas. As a result, the Icelandic audiovisual heritage has received limited attention from the authorities. Iceland has no national audiovisual archive. The Archive of the National Broadcasting Service RUV could well be considered one because of the range and size of its collection, but it lacks the necessary official acknowledgement and legal status. The collections studied appeared to be in a relatively good condition, but insufficient awareness of the needs of audiovisual preservation threatens to leave the collections outside the mainstream of digitization of cultural heritage.