The cinematic language of amateur footage

Amateur filming in France and the countries of Europe. 1930th-1970th. Cinematic language. Visual memory heritage

The research on the theme «Amateur filming in France and the countries of Europe. 1930th-1970th. Cinematic language. Visual memory heritage» is at its first, but already representative stage.

The research started with the study of the collections of L’agence régionale pour le livre et l’Image Ciclic Centre-Val de Loire, Cinémathèque de Nice, private sources. We explore the historical content and cinematic language. From one point of view – they are rare visual images, which expand the understanding of the nuances of everyday life in different cultural spaces. From another point of view - these unfinished sketches and sloppy essays represent curios cinematic visions and artistic revelations. We also work on the “decoding” and identifications of the content – and that’s important for historical value of the amateur visual heritage.

At this stage of the research it is possible to create the special international cinema program “Keyhole of Time” – it will be presented at Humboldt University in Berlin, where it’ll become the intriguing source of visual/historical information for students, as well as at «Flahertiana» International Film Festival in Perm. At “Flahertiana” the program will be opened by French film “Et j’aime à la fureur”, Andre Bonzel – the cinematic novel, based on amateur footage, filmed during more than hundred years. Academic seminar will be a part of activity.

Amateur documentaries in different countries embrace different periods starting in the 1940s. The peak of activity was during the 1950s through 1970s. For decades, the professional documentary filmmakers have used these shootings mostly to illustrate their own concepts, i.e., they “cut and paste.” However, this type of footage, though naïve, sometimes contain artistic revelations. Nowadays their essential value is growing considerably.

The next stage of the research and programming will expand the work with the collections of Cinémathèque de Nice, Inedit agence, Cinémathèque de Toulouse, Cinémathèque des Pays de Savoie et de l’Ain, Institut Jean Vigo/Cinémathèque de Perpignan, Cinémathèque de Grenoble, Cinémathèque of Netherlands.

The second instalment of the International cinema program “Keyhole of Time” will present amateur footage from France, Netherlands and Germany, and is planned to be shown at International film festival.

The program is developed by the team of Historical cinema review «CinEnigma» - Marina Drozdova and Aleksandr Kiselev.