Afleveringen
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Tristan welcomes two guests to one episode for the first time: the husband-and-wife film historian, archivist, and curator duo of Tamara Shvediuk and Federico Striuli. The pair showcase spectacle with their five picks, from the féerie to chronicles of a significant political change.
Tamara has curated film programs for several events, including the Moscow International Festival of Archival Films and the Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna. She also has collaborated with archives such as the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and the Cineteca di Bologna.
Federico holds a Ph.D. in Art History with a focus on Film Studies from the University Cà Foscari, Venice. He has lectured in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Poland, and Russia, and has curated film programs for prestigious festivals, including the Pordenone Silent Film Festival.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902!
Films and resources mentioned:
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902) - Ferdinand ZeccaJack and the Beanstalk (1902) - Edwin S. PorterThe Coronation of Edward VII (1902) - Georges MélièsBradford Coronation Procession (1902) - Mitchell & KenyonThe Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1902) - Ferdinand Zecca and Lucien NonguetThe Ring (1927) - Alfred HitchcockSerenade to the Moon (1902) - unknownThe Fairy of the Stars (1902) - unknownA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsThe Great Train Robbery (1903) - Edwin S. PorterMary Jane's Mishap (1903) - George Albert SmithExecution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901) - Edwin S. PorterThe Story of Victorian Film - Bryony Dixon -
Vanessa Toulmin, Chair in Early Film and Popular Entertainment at the University of Sheffield, is an expert on variety theater, circus, travelling exhibitions, fairgrounds, and other aspects of the history of show business. She brings this expertise to her five picks from 1902, ranging from her vast experience with the Mitchell & Kenyon films to an intriguing connection between A Trip to the Moon and an early amusement park ride.
Vanessa has published 11 books including Electric Edwardians: The Films of Mitchell and Kenyon and four books on Blackpool's entertainment heritage and was the curator of the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection for the BFI and the Crazy Cinematograph project for the City of Luxembourg. She is Chair of the Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust, an independent charity which is currently restoring that unique entertainment complex in northwest England.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902!
Films and resources mentioned:
Hull Fair (1902) - Mitchell & KenyonMiss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs (1902) - Alice Guy-BlachéThe Six Sisters Dainef (1902) - unknownHow to Stop a Motor Car (1902) - Cecil HepworthA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsFreaks (1932) - Tod BrowningSandow (1894) - William K.L. DicksonCarmencita (1894) - William K.L. DicksonThe Dancing Pig (1907) - unknownThe Countryman and the Cinematograph (1901) - Robert W. PaulUncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show (1902) - Edwin S. PorterExplosion of a Motor Car (1900) - Cecil HepworthThe Life of Charles Peace (1905) - William HaggarThe '?' Motorist (1906) - Walter R. BoothThe Automatic Motorist (1911) - Walter R. BoothLiverpool Street Scenes (1901) - Mitchell & KenyonKiri-Kis (1907) - Segundo de ChomónThe Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon: Edwardian Britain on Film - Vanessa Toulmin, Simon Popple, Patrick Russel, eds.Fantastic Voyages of the Cinematic Imagination: Georges Méliès's Trip to the Moon - Matthew Solomon, ed. -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Lea Stans has been writing about the silent era on her blog Silent-ology since 2014, informed by her college interests and even younger fascinations with the obscure. Her 1902 picks reflect the increasing diversity of the worldwide filmic output of the year, from the French féerie genre to actuality chronicles of downtown Indianapolis and northern England.
Lea is also a columnist for Classic Movie Hub and has written for The Keaton Chronicle and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902!
Films mentioned:
Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show (1902) - Edwin S. PorterRingling Bros. Circus Parade (1902) - unknownLiving Wigan (1902) - unknownThe Spring Fairy (1902) - Ferdinand ZeccaA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsThe Countryman and the Cinematograph (1901) - Robert W. PaulArrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896) - Auguste and Louis LumièreLondon After Midnight (1927) - Tod BrowningFreaks (1932) - Tod BrowningThe Cabbage Fairy (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéA Trip to Jupiter (1909) - Segundo de ChomónThe Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1902) - Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand ZeccaThe Impossible Voyage (1904) - Georges Méliès -
Karl Wratschko, curator, filmmaker, and artist, has been working as a film curator for the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna since 2016. He brings his experience of programming screenings based in specific years, not unlike this very show (he’s even done 1902 for the festival!), to craft an abridged program you might have seen in that year.
Karl’s artistic work includes film, photography, installation, radio art, and public art. He was co-responsible for several retrospectives of early Austrian film at the Viennale and a member of the Austrian team of the EU-funded research and development project European Film Gateway and its successor EFG1914.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902!
Films mentioned:
The Flying Train (1902) - unknownThe Eruption of Mount Pelee (1902) - Georges MélièsLe Cake-walk au Nouveau Cirque (1902) - Louis LumièreThe Little Match Seller (1902) - James WilliamsonThe Fairy of the Stars (1902) - unknownThe Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1902) - Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand ZeccaIngenious Soubrette (1902) - Ferdinand ZeccaGulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and Giants (1902) - Georges MélièsThe Big Swallow (1901) - James WilliamsonBlade Runner (1982) - Ridley ScottMetropolis (1927) - Fritz LangMartinique Disaster (1902) - Ferdinand ZeccaMt. Pelee Smoking Before Eruption (St. Pierre, Martinique) - J. Blair Smith and Edwin S. PorterMt. Pelee in Eruption and Destruction of St. Pierre (Martinique) - J. Blair Smith and Edwin S. PorterBurning of St. Pierre (Martinique) - J. Blair Smith and Edwin S. PorterLe Cake-walk du Nouveau Cirque (1905) - Alice Guy BlachéThe Infernal Cake Walk (1903) - Georges MélièsThe Soldier's Return (1903) - James WilliamsonSerenade to the Moon (1902) - unknownHamlet (1900) - Clément MauriceRough Sea at Dover (1895) - Birt Acres -
Film scholar and preservationist Clara Auclair and Tristan talk quite a bit about comedy and tricks, those originating from the stage and those that could only come from the magic of filmic technology. That conversation leads into discussing the phenomenon of early recreations of real events…or are they “fakes!?”
Clara teaches media studies at DIS Stockholm and works as a consultant for film archives. She is a DAFIV research fellow and co-secretary of Domitor, the International Association for the Study of Early Cinema, and is currently working on an edited collection of essays dedicated to the films of Alice Guy-Blaché with former guest Aurore Spiers.
Films and resources mentioned:
The Six Sisters Dainef (1902) - unknownMiss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs (1902) - Alice Guy-BlachéIngenious Soubrette (1902) - Ferdinand ZeccaThe Indiscreet Bathroom Maid (1902) - Georges HatotThe Eruption of Mount Pelee (1902) - Georges MélièsA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsLife and Passion of the Christ (1903) - Ferdinand ZeccaThe Human Fly (1902) - Georges MélièsNosferatu (1922) - F.W. MurnauThe Circus (1928) - Charlie ChaplinMartinique Disaster (1902) - Ferdinand ZeccaMt. Pelee Smoking Before Eruption (St. Pierre, Martinique) [1902] - J. Blair Smith and Edwin S. PorterMt. Pelee in Eruption and Destruction of St. Pierre (Martinique) [1902] - J. Blair Smith and Edwin S. PorterBurning of St. Pierre (Martinique) [1902] - J. Blair Smith and Edwin S. PorterThe Dreyfus Affair (1899) - Georges MélièsArrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896) - Auguste and Louis LumièreCinema's First Nasty Women -
A Trip to the Moon looms large in looking at the picture of 1902 in film. Georges Méliès' masterpiece is inarguably the most famous film of the early cinema period. But as will be explored by this season's guests, its part in reshaping the aesthetics, genres, and industrialization of the global film community exists alongside another version of film history.
Films mentioned:
A Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges Méliès -
Propaganda, comedy, tricks; these approaches may seem to obscure truths. That is certainly their potential in film, but in this 1901 season finale, Tristan reflects on the through lines of his guests' picks and the conversations that stemmed from them.
Also, he shares his personal five selections for 1901 and puts together the collective list of guest and listener submissions. That list, including all films submitted for the season, can be found at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list.
The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1902 coming soon!
Thank you to the guests of the third season:
Ian ChristiePamela HutchinsonGrazia IngravalleElif Rongen-KaynakçiLawrence NapperFilms mentioned:
The Big Swallow (1901) - James WilliamsonThe Death of Poor Joe (1901) - George Albert SmithDemolishing and Building up the Star Theatre (1901) - Frederick S. ArmitageDe Maasbrug te Rotterdam Omstreeks 1901 (1901) - unknownPanoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front (1901) - unknownThe Brahmin and the Butterfly (1901) - Georges MélièsBluebeard (1901) - Georges MélièsThe Magic Sword (1901) - Walter R. BoothScrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901) - Walter R. Booth -
All but one of the picks from Lawrence Napper, senior lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London, come from the huge trove of discovered Mitchell & Kenyon films. These fascinating records of everyday life in Victorian and Edwardian England and the United Kingdom lead to an array of exciting tangents, while Lawrence also uses his one fictional choice to make a resonant comparison between repeat film viewing and traditional religious ceremonies.
Lawrence’s publications include The Great War in Popular British Cinema: Before Journey’s End (2015) and Silent Cinema: Before the Pictures Got Small (2017). He is a regular on the KinoQuickies podcast and occasionally blogs at https://atthepictures.photo.blog/. Currently he is developing a book length study of The Opening of the Benton New Bank Tram Route (1913). Lawrence also hosts the annual British Silent Film Festival Symposium each spring at King’s College London.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901!
Films and resources mentioned:
Ride on the Tramcar through Belfast (1901) - unknownPanoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front (1901) - unknownManchester Band of Hope Procession (1901) - unknownScrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901) - Walter R. BoothBailey’s Royal Buxton Punch and Judy Show in Halifax (1901) - unknownRescued by Rover (1905) - Cecil HepworthA Daring Daylight Burglary (1903) - Frank MottershawMary Jane's Mishap (1903) - George Albert SmithBuy Your Own Cherries (1904) - Robert W. PaulThe Big Swallow (1901) - James WilliamsonThe Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) - Brian HensonMegalopolis (2024) - Francis Ford CoppolaLa Chienne (1931) - Jean RenoirTram Ride into Halifax (1902) - unknownMovies under the Influence (2024) - Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece -
Tristan has been the grateful viewer of many an eye-popping restoration from Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam on YouTube. He expresses his thanks to Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, Curator of Silent Film at Eye, before the two mostly discuss comedy films, with the broad genre nevertheless inspiring many different tangents from sexuality to the beginning of the film industry’s self-parody.
Elif has worked on the discovery, restoration, and presentation of presumed lost films starring forgotten or neglected actresses such as Rosa Porten, Little Chrysia, Valeria Creti, and Constance Talmadge. She is directly involved with the programs of international archival festivals Il Cinema Ritrovato and Le Giornate del Cinema Muto and other events dedicated to silent cinema. Elif is also one of three curators of Cinema's First Nasty Women, a DVD box set of 99 films.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901!
Films mentioned:
What Is Seen Through a Keyhole - Ferdinand Zecca (1901)The Countryman and the Cinematograph - Robert W. Paul (1901)Arrosage général - Ambroise-François Parnaland (1901)The Finish of Bridget McKeen - Edwin S. Porter (1901)De Maasbrug te Rotterdam Omstreeks 1901 - unknown (1901)Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927)Uncle Josh at the Moving Picture Show - Edwin S. Porter (1902)The Sprinkler Sprinkled - Louis Lumière (1895) -
Grazia Ingravalle, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Film at Queen Mary University of London, focuses her 1901 picks in relation to colonialism. She creatively tackles the premise of this show by talking not of the “best films” of the year, but “quite the opposite,” in her own words, to illustrate the effect of the medium at this time and beyond.
Grazia has published about film archives, digitization, archival remix, colonial histories, and decolonization in several edited volumes and in The Moving Image, Screen, and the JCMS. Her monograph, Archival Film Curatorship: Early and Silent Cinema from Analog to Digital (also very relevant to the “tension” of this show) came out in December 2023. She serves as Vice-President of Domitor: The International Society for the Study of Early Cinema.
Note: apologies for Tristan’s audio quality. It’s cleaned up as much as possible but it was captured in an inferior state!
Films mentioned:
Hands Off the Flag (1901) - unknownNankin Road, Shanghai (1901) - Joseph RosenthalPanorama of Grand Harbour, Malta, Showing Battleships, Etc. (1901) - William K.L. DicksonRoyal Visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to New Zealand (1901) - Joseph PerryManchester and Salford Harriers' Cyclists' Procession (1901) - unknownThe Birth of a Nation (1915) - D.W. GriffithNosferatu (1922) - F.W. Murnau -
Pamela Hutchinson's Silent London has been a great resource for Tristan since even before he started the written essay series that gives this podcast its name about seven years ago. Now, she joins the show to provide some context yet again, especially for how 1901 filmmakers weren't marching neatly toward narrative (they were tiptoeing toward it, dancing around it) and how some were specifically deconstructing the still-fledgling medium, through the lens of her five picks.
Pamela is a freelance writer, critic, curator, and film historian. Among her publications are two installments in the BFI Film Classics series: Pandora's Box and The Red Shoes.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901!
Films and resources mentioned:
Panoramic View of the Morecambe Sea Front - unknown (1901)Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre - Frederick S. Armitage (1901)The Death of Poor Joe - George Albert Smith (1901)The Big Swallow - James Williamson (1901)Histoire d'un crime - Ferdinand Zecca (1901)The Red Shoes - Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (1948)Leaving Jerusalem by Railway - Alexandre Promio (1897)Rough Sea at Dover - Birt Acres (1896)Wicked Little Letters - Thea Sharrock (2023)Living - Oliver Hermanus (2022)The Mountain Eagle - Alfred Hitchcock (1926)London After Midnight - Tod Browning (1927)The Dairy Maid's Revenge - Frederick S. Armitage (1899)A Nymph of the Waves - Frederick S. Armitage (1900)Demolition of a Wall - Louis Lumière (1896)The Suicide Squad - James Gunn (2021)Dream of a Rarebit Fiend - Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter (1906)The Entertainer - Tony Richardson (1960)Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost - Walter R. Booth (1901)Greed - Erich von Stroheim (1924)Attack on a China Mission - James Williamson (1900)Stop Thief! - James Williamson (1901)Fire! - James Williamson (1901)Eraserhead - David Lynch (1977) -
Film historian Ian Christie rewires Tristan’s brain a bit in this episode, as Ian draws parallels between the early film “adaptation” and the tableaux painting, both of which benefit from contemporary shared pathos. During the discussion of his five picks, among other things, he also provides insight into the Anglo-Boer War and the actuality genre’s dominance in 1901 even as trick films still draw our contemporary eyes.
Ian is an author and Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck, University of London. Among his many works are the book Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema (2019) and the TV production The Last Machine (1995), both of which are discussed in this episode.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901!
Films and resources mentioned:
Panorama of Ealing from a Moving Tram (1901) - William K.L. DicksonThe Man with the Rubber Head (1901) - Georges MélièsThe Big Swallow (1901) - James WilliamsonThe Death of Poor Joe (1901) - George Albert SmithThe Waif and the Wizard (1901) - Walter R. BoothLeaving Jerusalem by Railway (1897) - Alexandre PromioScrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901) - Walter R. BoothSanta Claus (1898) - George Albert SmithHugo (2011) - Martin ScorseseThe Launch of H.M.S. Albion (1898) - Robert Paul -
About five years into film's existence as a publicly available invention and art form, 1901 offers up a number of exciting threads for where the medium did and did not go. Some aspects may appear familiar: a form of a "close-up," attempts at adapting "narrative," and the use of the movies as a propaganda tool.
But as guests will point out, the intent and reception of such things may be alien to our modern eyes, from the idea of a moving picture "tableaux" to colonizing forces. Join host Tristan Ettleman for an exploration of 1901 with The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever!
You can submit your own top five films for 1901 at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list.
Films mentioned:
Fire! (1901) - James WilliamsonThe Big Swallow (1901) - James WilliamsonScrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901) - Walter R. BoothThe Story of a Crime (1901) - Ferdinand Zecca -
Although this season has emphasized that the sudden transition into the 20th century didn't magically advance the still very young art form of cinema, the films selected by the guests for the 1900 edition of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever represent exciting developments. Color, sound, trickery, medicine, animation, and the ever-present regret that so many films from this era are lost were recurring themes in the conversations throughout the season.
In this finale, host Tristan Ettleman briefly summarizes these themes, shares his five picks for 1900, and creates a high-level list from guests' and listeners' picks. That list, including all films submitted for the season, can be found at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list.
The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1901 begins soon!
Thank you to the guests of the second season:
Malcolm CookMatthew SolomonFrank KesslerCarolyn JacobsEnri CeballosFilms mentioned:
A Railway Collision (1900) - Walter R. BoothThe Doctor and the Monkey (1900) - Georges MélièsCyrano de Bergerac (1900) - Clément MauriceThe Christmas Dream (1900) - Georges MélièsJoan of Arc (1900) - Georges MélièsHamlet (1900) - Clément MauriceThe Cabbage Fairy (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéPierrette's Escapades (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéThe One-Man Band (1900) - Georges MélièsThe Enchanted Drawing (1900) - J. Stuart Blackton -
The affinity Enri Ceballos has for dance is intensely represented by his picks for 1900, four of which feature the sheer joy of human movement. Both in front of and behind the screen, these films (all French and helmed by women!) also represent the diversity of gender and sexuality at play, along with sound and color technologies, in early cinema's history.
Enri is the General Director for the Mexico International Silent Film Festival, a PhD student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a member of Women and Film History International.
Films and resources mentioned:
La concierge (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéDanse directoire (1900) - Marguerite VrignaultDance of the Seasons: Winter (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéGavotte (1900) - Marguerite VrignaultPierrette's Escapades (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéCyrano de Bergerac (1900) - Clément MauriceHamlet (1900) - Clément Maurice"Do You Believe in Fairies? Cabbages, Victorian Memes, and the Birth of Cinema: Seeing Sapphic Sexuality in the Silent Era" - Kiki Loveday -
Considering Carolyn Jacobs' research focuses on the cultural history of media, especially in relation to histories of medicine, science, and public health, it makes sense that she examines her five picks through those lenses. From kissing panics to women being barred from performing surgery, the medical view of the discussed films brings new angles to understanding early cinema.
Carolyn is an Assistant Professor of Media Studies in the Communication Department at Central Connecticut State University. Her current book project, Sanitizing Cinema: Public Health and the Regulation of American Film, considers the effects of health emergencies on the development of motion pictures in the early twentieth century.
Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1900!
Films and resources mentioned:
Exploding a Whitehead Torpedo (1900) - James H. WhiteGrandma's Reading Glass (1900) - George Albert SmithThe Kiss (1900) - unknownThe Cabbage Fairy (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéTurn-of-the-century Surgery (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéOppenheimer (2023) - Christopher NolanThe Cheese Mites (1903) - F. Martin DuncanTo Demonstrate How Spiders Fly (1909) - F. Percy SmithThe Acrobatic Fly (1910) - F. Percy SmithMad Max (1979) - George MillerThe Kiss (1896) - William HeiseFred Ott's Sneeze (1894) - William K.L. DicksonThe Horse in Motion (1878) - Eadweard MuybridgeSomething Good/Negro Kiss (1898) - William SeligThe Cabbage Fairy (1896) - Alice Guy-BlachéMidwife to the Upper Class (1902) - Alice Guy-BlachéFalling Leaves (1912) - Alice Guy-BlachéLa séparacion de Doodica-Radica (1902) - Eugène-Louis Doyen"Do You Believe in Fairies? Cabbages, Victorian Memes, and the Birth of Cinema: Seeing Sapphic Sexuality in the Silent Era" - Kiki Loveday -
From misattribution to missing sound, this conversation with Frank Kessler has a bit of lamentation for the lost works and context of early cinema. But there's also some celebration that we can view any films from the turn of the century (and earlier), including his picks that include trickery and evolving film language.
Frank is professor in media history at Utrecht University. His research activities concern mainly the field of early cinema and visual media in the 19th and early 20th century. His work includes the research program "The Nation and Its Other" and he acted as project leader and editor for A Million Pictures: Magic Lantern Slides in the History of Learning.
Films and resources mentioned:
The One-Man Band (1900) - Georges MélièsAttack on a China Mission (1900) - James WilliamsonGrandma's Reading Glass (1900) - George Albert SmithThe Cabbage Fairy (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéHamlet (1900) - Clément MauriceA Railway Collision (1900) - Walter R. BoothSan Francisco Earthquake & Fire: April 18, 1906 (1906) - unknownThe Dreyfus Affair (1899) - Georges MélièsA Sneaky Boer (1901) - unknownThe Cabbage Fairy (1896) - Alice Guy-BlachéHugo (2011) - Martin ScorseseRescued by Rover (1905) - Cecil HepworthCyrano de Bergerac (1900) - Clément MauriceAlice Guy Films a ‘Phonoscène’ in the Studio at Buttes-Chaumont, Paris (1907) - Alice Guy-Blaché'They thought it was a marvel' : Arthur Melbourne-Cooper (1874-1961) : pioneer of puppet animation (2009) - Tjitte de Vries and Ati MulWomen Film Pioneers Project -
Matthew Solomon has taught film history and theory at the University of Michigan since 2011, with special interests in early and silent cinema, classic Hollywood filmmaking, and French film. He brings all that to bear on his five picks for 1900, which contain techniques that have only retroactively been considered early displays of evolving film grammar...and indeed, they are two-fifths French.
Matthew is the author of Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century and Méliès Boots: Footwear and Film Manufacturing in Second Industrial Revolution Paris, among many other books, articles, and publications.
Films and resources mentioned:
Let Me Dream Again (1900) - George Albert SmithGrandma's Reading Glass (1900) - George Albert SmithThe Enchanted Drawing (1900) - J. Stuart BlacktonThe Magic Book (1900) - Georges MélièsThe One-Man Band (1900) - Georges MélièsThe Great Train Robbery (1903) - Edwin S. PorterHugo (2011) - Martin ScorseseThe Cabbage Fairy (1896) - Alice Guy-BlachéThe Cabbage Fairy (1900) - Aice Guy-BlachéThe Playhouse (1921) - Buster Keaton and Edward F. ClineThe Sprinkler Sprinkled (1895) - Louis Lumière -
Malcolm Cook, Associate Professor of Film at the University of Southampton, found it challenging to pick just five works to represent 1900. But his selections embody the cross-section of genres and approaches across three countries, demonstrating how the turn of the century didn't suddenly disrupt the paradigms of the cinema of attractions but evolved them in exciting ways.
Malcolm is the author of Early British Animation: From Page and Stage to Cinema Screens (2018) and co-editor (with Kirsten Moana Thompson) of the collection Animation and Advertising (2019). His current research focusses on useful animation, especially in relation to petroleum industries, with recent articles on this published in Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal (2023) and Media+Environment (2024).
Films and resources mentioned:
The Enchanted Drawing (1900) - J. Stuart BlacktonThe One-Man Band (1900) - Georges MélièsExplosion of a Motor Car (1900) - Cecil HepworthSolar Eclipse (1900) - Nevil MaskelynePierrette's Escapades (1900) - Alice Guy-BlachéA Trip to the Moon (1902) - Georges MélièsThe Wizard of Oz (1939) - Victor FlemingAnnabelle Serpentine Dance (1895) - William K.L. Dickson and William HeiseWorkers Leaving the Lumière Factory (1895) - Louis LumièreHow It Feels to Be Run Over (1900) - Cecil HepworthThe Automatic Motorist (1911) - Walter R. BoothCrash (1996) - David CronenbergThe Magic Book (1900) - Georges MélièsHugo (2011) - Martin ScorseseWomen Film Pioneers Project -
The second season of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever narrows down from the decade-plus of the first down to just one calendar year. The first year of the 20th century didn't suddenly erupt the cinematic world into wholly unprecedented developments. But it fits into the trends and patterns steadily evolving through the last years of the 1800s, even as exciting changes and quality films illustrate increased output and popularity.
From medical viewpoints to "animation," retroactive markers of "filmic language" to attribution mysteries, the conversations with host Tristan Ettleman's guests are sure to dispel some myths and preconceived notions of this era of cinema and encourage the discovery of both well-documented and relatively obscure movies. Join us for an exploration of 1900 with The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever!
Films mentioned:
Hamlet (1900) - Clément MauriceCyrano de Bergerac (1900) - Clément MauriceJoan of Arc (1900) - Georges Méliès - Laat meer zien
