Rethinking the East European 'Film Industry'

• In Event: Film Stock in Eastern Europe: Industry, Geopolitics, Aesthetics

Abstract

This paper reframes the concept of the “film industry” in 20th century Eastern Europe. In place of familiar institutions like film studios, distribution companies, and cinemas, it considers the industries that made film, the photosensitive celluloid used in photographic and motion-picture production. To do so, it focuses on two film factories—Agfa-Wolfen in East Germany and Svema in Shostka, Ukraine—during the years 1945-53, a moment at which the factories were entangled both with each other and with film factories elsewhere in the world (notably the United States). Considering the movement of raw materials, finished products, and workers, the paper argues that Eastern Europe’s cinematic histories must be seen in light of other, related industries, above all the chemical and defense industries.

Author

• Alice Lovejoy, U of Minnesota