Film History Research Articles

О восстановлении утраченного кинонаследия на примере фильма Дзиги Вертова «Годовщина революции»

In 2018, the author of this article discovered in the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive and restored Dziga Vertov’s debut film Anniversary of the Revolution (1918), which film historians had considered lost up until then. The event aroused great interest among the press, the festival audience, the student audience, and the academic community in both Vertov himself and the film. After numerous screenings of the film in Russia and abroad, a large number of interviews appeared which touched upon various aspects of Dziga Vertov’s life and work, film storage practices, archival research methods, the principles of film restoration, the ethics of the researcher’s intrusion into other people’s material, as well as the financial and technical sides of the matter. The questions in those interviews were often repeated. In this article, the author systematizes and summarizes the information in the answers to the questions, scattered across individual materials. Why did this film disappear at some point? Why was the film not stored complete? How was the restoration of the film going? What is this film, the first work of the world-famous documentary filmmaker? The value of the film is that it provides a new visual source for the study of Russian history, as well as makes an important contribution to the study of the history of Russian and world documentary filmmaking.

In Translation: Gabriel Navarro, Latina/o Film Critic

ABSTRACT: Gabriel Navarro (1894–1950) was critic and entertainment editor for La Prensa (San Antonio) and La Opinión (Los Angeles) during the 1920s and 1930s. In an extensive body of film reviews, columns, and film-related fiction, Navarro considered questions of fandom, stardom, representation, and the racial hierarchies that structured the US film industry. He offered his readers behind-the-scenes accounts of Hollywood, advocated for Mexican immigrant audiences and talent, and argued for culturally sensitive representation. Navarro's work opens new ways of thinking about Latino/a/es in US film history and offers new perspectives on the historical relationships between mainstream media and marginalized audiences.

Myth and reality in the work of Italian neorealists

The object of research is Italian neorealism of the 1940-1950s. The subject of research is the work of neorealist directors Roberto Rossellini, Cesare Zavattini, Giuseppe de Santis, Vittorio de Sica, Alberto Latuada. Features of neorealism are also inherent in the early work of directors Luchino Visconti («Obsession» 1943, «Earth Trembles» 1948), Federico Fellini («The Road» 1954, «Nights of Cabiria» 1957), Piero Paolo Pasolini («Accatone» 1961, «Mama Roma» 1962), Michelangelo Antonioni «People from the Po River» 1947). Neorealism develops under the influence of French poetic realism, as well as, under the influence of verism, especially, the work of L. Pirandello. The focus of the neorealists was a person in interaction with society, the environment. The purpose of this study is to consider the features of realism and neorealism, to consider the space created by directors. This study uses various research methods - phenomenological, intertextual, comparative, hermeneutic, content analysis in their combination and complementarity. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the opposition of mythological and real space in the films of Italian directors, as well as in the application of an integrated approach. The main conclusion of this study is the thesis that myth and reality in the work of Italian neorealists interact with each other. Despite the documentary approach to filming, neorealists create their own, special reality, turn to history and myth. The concept of "neorealism" is quite complex, many of its representatives called themselves realists. The focus of neorealism becomes a person in interaction with society, with the environment. As the principles of neorealism, one can single out chorality, that is, the interaction of people. A separate feature of neorealism is the appeal to fantasy. F. Fellini and M. Antonioni open a new chapter in the history of Italian cinema.

Analysis of Ukrainian Animation Film Art

Ukraine, as a country with profound cultural heritage, exhibits rich and diverse characteristics in its cultural development. This paper focuses on the development status of Ukraine in the field of animated filmmaking, aiming to conduct in-depth discussions and exchanges. Although Ukraine's film industry possesses certain strengths and has even won awards at international film festivals, its performance in the specialized field of animated filmmaking seems to have not reached a level commensurate with its overall cultural strength, leaving certain gaps and deficiencies. By reviewing the history of Ukrainian cinema and animated filmmaking art, analyzing the early development of Ukrainian animated art, and combining it with the analysis of the current situation of Ukrainian animated films, this paper explores potential paths for its development.

Proximities of Violence

Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2023) takes an unorthodox approach to Holocaust cinema, studying the everyday life of the Commandant of Auschwitz and his family in their home just outside the wall of the camp, while never directly representing the violence inside. Voyeurism, extended takes, and unstable points of identification create an ethical crisis for the viewer, who is left questioning the mechanics, and the limits, of empathy. The film offers a sensory bounty: tactile images, pastoral greenery, and heightened sounds. These surface-rich images in particular function in dialogue with a history of Holocaust cinema, complicating already vexing questions of cultural memory and political framing. And the pointed focus on the administration of fascism within the home exposes both the domestic implementation of a “blood and soil” ideology, and the ways in which intimacy and proximity can both uphold and erode the frameworks of war.

Part II–(Re)imagining Cinematic Histories of Africa: African Women, Cinema, and the Tale of Kadidia Pâté

Abstract: "Le dit du cinéma africain" (The Tale of African Cinema), by the inimitable griothistorian Amadou Hampâté Bâ, is an extraordinary tale of Mali's early encounter with cinema, revealing an equally fascinating story of an early instance of an African woman and cinematic spectatorship. In his tale, he recounts in her own words, his mother Kadidia Pâté's first experience with cinema. This enchanting and edifying rendezvous with the moving image provides us not only with a unique introduction to the histories of African women's encounter with cinema but also to the trans-global nature of these cinematic experiences. As Toni Cade Bambara reminds us, as early as 1897, "operators for Lumière, Meliès, and Edison were presenting, in various countries, programs of flickers shot from all over the world." And in the case of Mali in this tale, movies imposed on the inhabitants who refused to look. This section relates her extraordinary story.

Transnationalising Malay Cinema: P. Ramlee in Hong Kong

This article investigates P. Ramlee's little-known attempt at transnationalising Malay cinema in the early 1960s. Using biographical records, newspaper reports and film magazines, I trace the star's earliest direct contact with Hong Kong cinema, his plans to make Malay films in Hong Kong, the controversy that ensued, and the outcomes of these grand plans. Situating this episode in its historical context, this article unsettles standard narratives of P. Ramlee, and Malay and Malaysian film histories. It demonstrates that, as opposed to the seemingly inevitable ethnonational route, and in contrast to the hypernationalist characterisation of P. Ramlee today, a transnational model was once envisioned through P. Ramlee as a potential future for Malay cinema in the face of tumultuous geopolitical changes. It also brings to light the complex role that labour activism played in shaping post-studio era development of Malay cinema, and the roots of Malaysian national cinema.

Конструирование образа прошлого в кино: кейс сериала «Слово пацана»

The article examines the problem of historical accuracy in cinema on the example of the popular Russian TV series “A hoodlum’s promise – blood on the asphalt”. In the context of the popularity of movies covering real historical events, the author gives a sociological interpretation of the artistic techniques used in the series aimed at constructing the image of the past. Based on their analysis, the authors identify the criteria that allow us to judge the plausibility and correspondence of the image of the past embodied in the film to the historical reality. These include: 1) the degree of authenticity of reconstruction of material culture of a particular time pe-riod; 2) authentic representation of mentality of a particular time period; and 3) filmmaker’s understanding and interpretation of historical processes, events, etc. It is emphasized that the modern trend is to move away from documentary authenticity in historical films, but it is also stressed that the key importance in this regard is the author’s intention, in some cases designed to convey to the viewer a certain social idea expressed by the skill of filmmakers.

Book Review: New Perspectives on Early Cinema History: Concepts, Approaches, Audiences by Mario Slugan and Daniel Biltereyst (eds)

Book Review: <i>New Perspectives on Early Cinema History: Concepts, Approaches, Audiences</i> by Mario Slugan and Daniel Biltereyst (eds)

Cinematographic language: possibilities for work in early childhood education

The present article addresses the application of cinematographic language in educational practices aimed at Early Childhood Education. The central objective is to highlight the relevance of structured planning for the integration of this language, considering children as active participants in all stages related to this practice. In this perspective, the work is divided into stages. The first stage provides a brief history of cinema and its incorporation into education, with a focus on Early Childhood Education. The second stage discusses the importance of planning educational practices in Early Childhood Education. The third stage presents a real possibility of working with cinema based on interviews with teachers. In this way, it seeks to contribute to the broadening of understanding regarding the intersection between Early Childhood Education and Cinema, offering concrete possibilities for effective planning led by teachers from a Municipal Early Childhood Education Center. This planning aims to encompass meaningful proposals grounded in cinematographic language. The research methodology is qualitative, employing semi-structured interviews as a tool for data collection, directed towards teachers and children involved in the investigated educational context.

American indie cinema between DIY cultures and global Hollywood: Exploring the paradigm of Slacker

A landmark of the 1990s independent cinema and emblem of Generation X, Slacker (1991) is a significant event in the genealogy of Austin, Texas DIY scenes, with a long-lasting impact on the city's film industry and cultural history. The article applies research on DIY to the realm of American independent cinema, using Richard Linklater's iconic film to define indie cinema as a complex idea, linking the global media industries to cult performers emerging from intense subcultural contexts. After touching upon the history of American independent cinema, the film's content is read against its production networks, suggesting the historical role of DIY media ecologies in the value chain of Hollywood. The flexible career pathways emanating from Slacker chart various fates that creative labour undergoes in today's media industries. This methodological perspective reinforces a relational approach to the study of independent cinema, suggesting possible lines of inquiry for future research.

Ion Creangă’s creation in the vision of director Ion Popescu-Gopo

The Romanian director Ion Popescu-Gopo (1923-1989) remained in the history of world cinema as the creator of the Little Man, which became his brand in the field of animation. But his creation is rich enough, including not only animated films, but also fiction films. He is the only director, who in the years ‘60-’80 dared to interpret the stories of the classic of our literature Ion Creangă, starting with The Story of Harap Alb (The White Moor, 1965), The Story of the Pig,(The Story of Love, 1976), The Old Man’s Daughter and the Old Woman’s Daughterl (Maria, Mirabela, 1982),The Bag with Two Coins (The Wager, 1984). The director re-reads the writer’s stories from a modern cinematic perspective, experimenting not only with the ideational message, but also with the production techniques, combining the actors’ play with animated images (Maria, Mirabela or The Wager).

Alfred Andersch, the Cinéma des Auteurs, and the Poetics of Screenwriting

This essay presents a little-known chapter in the film history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Alfred Andersch, founding member of Gruppe 47 and influential broadcast editor, was one of the few authors who was intensively involved with film. The essay reconstructs Andersch’s attempt to associate film and literature and thereby develop an alternative concept to the European cinéma des auteurs. To this end, the essay discusses not only Andersch’s critical writings but also a number of documents from his estate. Andersch’s film theory is evaluated in light of the contemporary literary debate on the medium. His screenplays for the adaptations of his novels Die Rote and Die Entwaffnung are used to examine the conclusions Andersch drew regarding film aesthetics in his own poetics of screenwriting. In sum, the essay reconstructs Andersch’s attempt at a literary response to the crisis of West German film around 1960.

Memories Between Architecture and Cinema

Cinemapp is a web application (webapp) that enables the individual or group discovery of the Cinematic Ecosystem of the city of Valladolid. This city is distinguished for its architectural heritage and cinematic history, with numerous cinemas that have vanished and films that have been shot there, thus comprising a unique combination of architectural and cinematic heritage. The application fosters an interactive experience that facilitates the exploration and enjoyment of the city's cinematic history, as well as contemplation of film, media, and new technologies. The project compiles a wide range of historical information and citizen memories in various digital formats, which nourish the graphical database named FilmcityDB. By combining both resources and employing the Valladolid context as an extrapolatable prototype, users can explore different routes and immerse themselves in the accumulated cinematic history of the city since the past century.

“서편제”의 영화적 특성

This thesis is a study on the characteristics of the novel-based film “Seopyeonje”. Compared to novels, movies have a stronger role of sound and video. In the case of the movie “Seopyeonje”, the sound goes beyond the background to the thematic function. While singing is only a partial explanation of the story in the novel, “Chunhyangga” and “Shimcheongga” in “Seopyeonje” are the main stories that lead the first and second half of the movie, respectively. The video of “Seopyeonje” also plays a role in leading the story, not just assisting the story. he last scene of the movie “Seopyeonje” is one of the best scenes in Korean film history created by combining sound and video. The final sequence of the film is a scene in which only singing sound and video are used to solve the pain and sadness(losing parents early, affair, incestuous desire, family breakdown, love, separation, death, and despair) entangled in all the stories of the film. The scene where Song-hwa sings and Dong-ho hits the drum expressed the process of unraveling all their resentments.

&lt;i&gt;The Terror&lt;/i&gt; (1928)

Largely forgotten in the history of cinema is Warner Bros.–Vitaphone’s feature film The Terror (1928). To the extent it is remembered, it is because the film qualifies as the second “all-talkie” feature, Warner Bros.– Vitaphone’s Lights of New York (Bryan Foy, 1928) being the first. The Terror has also rightly been identified as the first talkie to feature a scream, which would become such an important sound in future horror movies. However, the key reason The Terror deserves recognition and further study is because it crucially requires a major revision in our understanding of film history. Beyond any doubt, The Terror was Hollywood’s first talkie to use a background score (“nondiegetic” music), with the term “background” being critical in this context, meaning music heard along with (in back of) audible dialogue.

Cinema and Revolution: Fifty years after the Carnation Revolution

This special section of Aniki is designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese revolution of 1974-1975. The five articles included in it reflect the need to bring together international research, particularly on a theme with such a wide geographical scope as this one, highlighting the importance of adopting cross perspectives. The analyses proposed in these essays take a variety of approaches – critical film studies, the history of cinema’s modes of production, the ontology of the documentary, comparative analysis – and move through different filmic forms and revolutionary territories, namely: France, the Philippines, Spain, Romania and Brazil. Together, these essays allow us to update the links between cinema and revolution and extend them to other historical contexts and case studies, thus contributing to the global history of a cinema that has for a long time been confronting revolution and society in creative and inspiring ways.

Between Politics and Aesthetics: Sharon Hayes and Histories of Experimental Cinema

Bu makale, Sharon Hayes’in Gay Power 1971/2007/2012 isimli çalışmasında hem tarihsel bir belge hem de estetik bir malzeme olarak yetmişlerin deneysel sinemasıyla protesto teması ve biçimselliği ekseninde kurduğu ilişkiye odaklanmaktadır. Her ne kadar Hayes üstüne yapılmış çalışmalar sanatçının tarihsel belge ve izlere yaptığı kendi müdahalelerini hem politik hem de biçimsel açılardan ele almış olsa da, Hayes’in el koyup sahip çıktığı tarihsel malzemenin kendisinin biçimsel analizi malzemenin sadece politik anlam ve potansiyeline yoğunlaşma sonucu ihmal edilmiştir. Bu ihmali göz önünde bulundurarak, makale Gay Power’ın bu tarihsel katmanlarının hem tematik hem de daha önceki çalışmalarda yer bulmamış biçimsel bir analizini sunar. Bu analiz ekseninde çalışmanın amacı altmışlardan beri çağdaş sanat ve deneysel film tarihlerinin kesişimindeki politik ve estetik kaygıların aralarında ortaya çıkan ancak gözden kaçmış sancılı ama güçlü ilişkilere dikkat çekmektir. Görünebilirlik ve tanıklık, performans ve toplanma estetiğini ele alışıyla, Gay Power, protesto eyleminin hem kendini ifade ediş şekillerini hem de kendi içinde biçimleniş yollarını vurgular. Hayes’in protesto eylemini sinema ve performans teknikleriyle anlatısında kullandığı biçimsel ve organizasyonel temsil stratejileri bilinçli olarak protesto eyleminin kendi biçimsel temsil kaygılarına gönderme yapar ve bunlarla paralellik gösterir. Öte taraftan da benzer kaygıların, temel olarak aldığı Women’s Liberation Cinema’nın ham görüntülerini de şekillendirmiş olduğuna dikkat çeker. Bu bakımdan Gay Power, bir taraftan yerinde kayıt, geçmişe dönük değerlendirme ve siyasi olayların yaratıcı icatları arasındaki üretken gerilimleri gözler önüne serer. Öte taraftan da biçim ve içerik, sanat ve politika ve gerçek ve kurgu arasındaki akışkan ve karmaşık ilişkileri dikkate alan alternatif bir deneysel film ve sanat tarihi yazımının gerekliliğine işaret eder.

Analysis of the American directors� works in the context of the European theory of auteur cinema

Relevance. The relevance of this study is determined by the trends in the development of New Hollywood, which have radically changed the essence of modern cinematograph.Purpose. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of New Hollywood cinema, which resonated in the work of modern Hollywood directors as an influential and competitive area. Examples from films by American directors and authors were analysed.Methodology. Methods of scientific analysis, comparison, and generalisation were used in the study of the topic. In addition, analytical and systematic methods were applied in their unity, which is necessary for studying the art history aspect of the problem, working on the historical and factual base and clarifying the terminology of research. Using the method of introspection, the paper investigated and systematised the problems of director's self-fulfilment, which contributed to the awareness of the specifics of the theory and practice of author's cinema parity.Results. Based on the results of the study, conclusions were drawn about the specifics of creating author's models of modern cinema under the influence of the canons of New Hollywood author's independent cinematograph.Conclusions. It was established that the determination of factors of professionalism creates psychological models of professional activity and professional self-consciousness of the individual. The practical significance of the study consists in expanding the arsenal of knowledge about the specifics of the author in cinema and, in particular, the author's cinema of New Hollywood and makes it possible to use them in training courses on the theory and history of cinema and directing.

Commemorating the Great War on Film: Veterans, Pilgrimages and Amateur Filmmaking

This article explores the work of four amateur filmmakers from the Canterbury area, between the late 1920s and early 1970s focusing on the films relating to the battlefield visits of First World War veterans and their families. It argues that film provides a fascinating insight into veteran behaviour and culture. Of particular interest is the manner in which the films reveal the continuities and developments in the behaviour of ex-servicemen. The films of the late 1920s and 1930s reveal a highly masculine culture which remained closely aligned with military ceremonial and codes of conduct, whereas the later, post-1945, films show the veterans with wives and family members engaging in a wider range of activities. The article also sets the films within the culture of amateur filmmaking of the time discussing equipment, techniques and exhibition, thus engaging with an element of film history which remains under-explored compared with the degree of research commercial cinema has attracted. The article is supplemented by a short film providing excerpts from all films discussed.