An International Study of Film Museums

Description

An International Study of Film Museums examines how cinema has been transformed and strengthened through museological and archival activities since its origins and asks what paradoxes may be involved, if any, in putting cinema into a museum. Cere explores the ideas that were first proposed during the first half of the twentieth century around the need to establish national museums of cinema and how these have been adapted in the subsequent development of the five case studies presented here: four in Europe and one in the USA. The book traces the history of the five museums' foundation, exhibitions, collections, and festivals organised under their aegis and it asks how they resolve the tensions between cinema as an aesthetic artefact – now officially recognised as part of humanity's cultural heritage – and cinema as an entertainment and leisure activity. It also gives an account of recent developments around unifying collections, exhibition activities and archives in one national film centre that offers the general public a space totally devoted to film and cinematographic culture. An International Study of Film Museums provides a unique comparative study of museums of cinema in varying national contexts. The book will be of interest to academics and students around the world who are engaged in the study of museums, archives, heritage, film, history and visual culture. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures Acknowledgments Introduction Notes Bibliography Chapter 1: The birth of the museum of cinema Museums of cinema’s early history Cinema as technology in museums: the pioneers Museum of cinema: its pre-history and its archaeology exhibits The museum of cinema as ‘organic’ formation: Paul Rotha Museums, film libraries and archives: different paradigms? Early archives and museums of cinema MoMA’s Film Library: film as art The British National Film Library The Cinémathèque Française Reichsfilmarchiv: a state-backed archive FIAF and the safeguarding of cinema’s heritage Archaeology of cinema in today’s museums Notes Bibliography Chapter 2: The National Science and Media Museum The ‘ancestry’ of the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford The British Film Institute and the Museum of the Moving Image A media museum in the North of England: the first 25 years Cinematography and photography in the museum The development of television galleries Watching films in the museum Film Festivals in the museum Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 3: Who is guarding the treasures now?: The Cinémathèque Française-Musée du Cinéma The Birth of the Cinémathèque Française: modest beginnings The Cinémathèque Française and the passage from silent movies to sound Avenue de Messine: the first ‘home’ of the Cinémathèque Française-Musée du Cinéma Rue de Courcelle: the second ‘home’ of the Cinémathèque Française-Musée du Cinéma The Cinémathèque in the sixties and the ‘Affaire Langlois’ A dream realised? The ‘Palais de Chaillot’ The Bercy Project: ‘Passion Cinema’ betrayed? Cinémathèque Française-Musée du Cinéma archaeology collection Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 4: ‘Thought of a museum of cinema’: the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin First steps in the direction of a National Museum of Cinema The first museum of cinema at Palazzo Chiablese in Turin The reopening of the ‘Museo Nazionale del Cinema’ in the Mole Antonelliana Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 5: The Museu del Cinema in Girona, Catalonia The Museu del Cinema in Girona: an experiment in a locally run museum The collection of Tomàs Mallol The museum’s philosophy about exhibiting pre-cinema and cinema The permanent exhibitions Amateur cameras and ‘Cine NIC’ American cinema in the museum: ‘The Dream Factory’ The temporary exhibitions The museum and Catalan film culture Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 6: Eastman House: an international museum of photography and cinema The first museum in the George Eastman House From ‘shrine’ to public museum Cinematography and the moving image in the museum The museum’s development and transition The consolidation of cinema and cinematography in the museum The museum in crisis The new museum and archive Conclusion Notes Bibliography Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index