This article presents the argument that archivists and media scholars need to take on new practices to facilitate the co-creative re-use of archival material as hackathons or marathons. These events, as cultural interventions, reach out to local communities and promote collaboration. Also, they give means for archives to understand the nuances of re-using archival content to contextualize their records. In order to sustain this claim, one case study is presented in which a group of international writers and video makers join forces to re-use audiovisual archive material in Helsinki, Finland. The discussion focuses on issues pertaining to the facilitation of creative re-use as a means for integration, the development of media literacy in relation to archival material and in collaborative processes, and the challenges in the practice of legally reusing archival material.