A film bridge assembly adapted to precisely position film during scanning in a digital film processing system. The film bridge assembly makes up part of a film bridge and illuminator cavity system that includes a slot for the passage of illumination light that is used to scan film at an opening of the slot. A window or cylindrical lens is provided at the opening of the slot to permit film to pass over the slot without incurring any scratching. The window or lens is effective to keep the film at a constant height, reduce debris at the image plane, and permit a maximum amount of illumination light to pass through the film.