Moving Forward, Looking Back : The European Avant-garde and the Invention of Film Culture, 1919-1939

Abstract

Front cover illustration: photo taken during the shooting of Berlin, die Sinfonie der Grossstadt, GER , Walter Ruttmann. Courtesy of the Deutsche Kinemathek -Museum für Film und FernsehenCover design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam Lay-out: japes, Amsterdam isbn      (paperback) isbn      (hardcover) nur  © Malte Hagener / Amsterdam University Press  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. AcknowledgementsA book is always a long and winding endeavour to which many people contribute, a lot of them in ways not intended and often even unconsciously. So this list invariably contains names of people who never meant to participate in the creation of this book and who might even be surprised to find their names here. Of course, mistakes, omissions and faults are completely my own. Meanwhile, I am more than happy to point out the support of a number of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. The basic framework, organisationally, intellectually and financially has been provided by the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the project » Cinema/Media Europe «, which gave me the opportunity to research and write this book, so my first bow has to go to those who made it possible to participate in this project. I have shared many hours and thoughts with my colleagues Marijke de Valck, Floris Paalman and Ward Rennen in classes and libraries, but also in our offices, first in the Vendelstraat and later in the Turfdraagsterpad. However, this project was all the more extraordinary because many other members from all corners of Europe made our meetings and activities so rewarding and stimulating. Thanks also to Melis Behlil, Yesim Burul, Tarja Laine, Gerwin van der Pol, and Eleftheria Thanouli who contributed to our common effort of rethinking European cinema. However, the largest debt I owe is to Drehli Robnik. He showed up one day at the Ph.D. seminar and has become, along with Gabu Heindl, a good friend ever since.A number of colleagues and friends in Amsterdam have been helpful in various ways, either listening to my half-baked ideas over dinner, sharing film experiences, taking the time to read earlier drafts of chapters, or just helping out when it was most necessary: Ivo Blom, Karel Dibbets, Charles Forceville, Julia Nordergraaf, Martina Roepke, Wim Staat, Wanda Strauven, Arnth van Tuinen, and Reimer van Tuinen. As part of the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, I was lucky to be supported by Eloe Kingma and Hent de Vries. The first scholars to seriously involve themselves in the ideas raised in this book were on my Ph.D. committee and so thanks to Jeroen Boomgaard, Ian Christie, Vinzenz Hediger, Jan Simons, and Frank van Vree.A number of invitations allowed me to develop and ...

The activities of the Department of Cine Arte / SODRE (1944-1962)

“…No es de extrañar que en varios de los primeros programas surja la vocación retrospectiva que generó las primeras iniciativas que comenzaron a patrimonializar cierto recorte de la producción cinematográfica de las primeras décadas (Gauthier, 1999). En la primera temporada, la propuesta consistió en "títulos dispersos" (SODRE, 1963, p.196), de los cuales destacan los nombres clave del canon: Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Vsévolod Pudovkin, Robert Flaherty, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Walter Ruttman, René Clair, y los mismos títulos que recorrieron de forma rutinaria las programaciones de los cine clubes de la década del 20 (Hagener, 2007). La primera proyección, sin embargo, estuvo compuesta por un filme temprano de Carl Dreyer, La extraña aventura de David Gray, y Expreso de Manchuria, de L. Trauberg, dos filmes que no veremos repetir mucho en este medio y que recogen las apasionadas palabras del crítico Hugo Alfaro.…”

Scenarzysta w czasach kultury przemysłowej. Międzywojenna publicystyka filmowa Anatola Sterna

“…Stern debiutował jako scenarzysta w czasach kina niemego (przygotowana wspólnie z Andrzejem Strugiem adaptacja Przedwiośnia z 1927 r.), a pojawienie się u progu lat 30. filmu dźwiękowego gruntownie zmieniło sposób pracy w atelier. Przekreśliło awangardowe nadzieje na stworzenie uniwersalnego, międzynarodowego języka obrazów 15 , a jednocześnie przyczyniło się do szybszej komercjalizacji kina, ponieważ wprowadzenie do światowego kina synchronizowanego, nagrywanego dźwięku dopełniło mechanizacji medium. A z pełną mechanizacją nadeszła wszechogarniająca, generalna zmiana przyniesiona przez wprowadzenie dźwięku: zwiększona standaryzacja 16 .…”

Film Museum Practice and Film Historiography

“…During the 1930s, Europe saw the foundation of the first national film museums, such as the Cinémathèque française in Paris, the National Film Archive (BFI) in London, and the Cinémathèque Royale in Brussels (Houston, 1994;Hagener, 2007;Bordwell, 1997). 14 These institutions emerged out of the avant-garde film culture formed by film critics and filmmakers in the 1920s, who were often active members of ciné-clubs and film societies devoted to the defense of film as an art form.…”