For more information…
Films muets sur le Web
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Virtual Silver Screen |
| See some twenty films shot between 1902 and 1941 from the Library and Archives Canada collection. | |
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Images of a Forgotten War |
| Website prepared by the National Film Board devoted to films showing Canadian participation in the First World War. | |
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Library of Congress: American Memory |
| Several hundred short films online from the Library of Congress, including many Edison productions. | |
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Europa Film Treasures |
| The product of collaboration between several European archives, this site offers a very rich and varied collection of digitized films. | |
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Australian Screen |
| Produced by the National Film and Sound Archive, this site includes over 1000 clips from Australian films produced over the last century. | |
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Scottish Screen Archive |
| Offers a collection of digitized films that are particularly rich in local subjects. | |
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Gaumont Pathé Archives |
| This website provides access to an extensive collection of films preserved in France by the Pathé and Gaumont archives. Although mostly actualities (including many covered in the GRAFICS project “Filmography of ‘Views’ Shot in Quebec during the Silent Era”), one can also find several Gaumont films from before 1910. | |
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British Pathé |
| Website offering thousands of hours of actualities and newsreels shot between 1896 and 1970 for British Pathé. | |
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The Wisconsin Bioscope |
| Both entertaining and educational, this site offers several exceptional pastiches of silent-era films. | |
On-line Resources
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The Bioscope |
| More than a blog, this is quite simply the best resource for keeping track of research on silent cinema. | |
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Filmographie des ‘vues’ tournées au Québec au temps du muet |
| Online database offering access to information on hundreds of films shot in Quebec during the silent era. Information on films includes references to primary sources as well as comments from GRAFICS researchers. | |
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Cinéma et oralité |
| Information on “oral cinema” and film lecturers. | |
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American Film Institute Catalog: Silent Films |
| Extensive film database indexing all of the films distributed in the United States before 1911, as well as American feature length films produced during the silent era. | |
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The Edison Papers |
| Website offering a variety of digitized documents from the Edison archive: plans and sketches, correspondence, witness accounts, contracts, brochures, and so forth. Also many documents dealing with Edison’s activities in film – from the design of the Kinetoscope to the dissolution of the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1915. | |
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Yves Lever |
| Prepared by the film historian Yves Lever, this site offers many texts and resources of great interest to the study of cinema in Quebec. | |
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The London Project: The Birth of the Film Business in London |
| This site includes an exceptional database listing all of the cinema-related halls and shops that were operating in London between 1894 and 1914. | |
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Cinema Context |
| Excellent research project focused on film exhibition in The Netherlands between 1896 and 1940. | |
Museums, Archives and Film Collections
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Library and Archives Canada |
| LAC maintains a large collection of films (including numerous films shot in Canada in the silent era), as well as several publications and documents essential to the study of early cinema in Canada. | |
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McCord Museum |
| The McCord Museum is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion and appreciation of Canadian history. | |
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British Film Institute |
| One of the most prestigious institutions dedicated to cinema throughout the world since 1933. | |
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Cinémathèque française |
| One of the oldest archives dedicated to cinema, the Cinémathèque Française preserves, restores and distributes film heritage worldwide since 1936. The website offers a selection of virtual exhibitions as well. | |
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George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film |
| Founded in 1949 in Rochester, New York, with the support of the Eastman Kodak Company, George Eastman House is an impressive archive and documentation centre specializing in photography and film. Their on-line collection includes several sets of magic lantern slides. | |
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Museum of Modern Art |
| At the forefront of film studies since 1935, the Museum of Modern Art in New York oversees the conservation, restoration and dissemination of film heritage worldwide. | |
Organizations and Associations
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Film Studies Association of Canada |
| Founded in 1976, the FSAC aims to promote research in the history and aesthetics of cinema in Canada, particularly with the publication of the Canadian Journal of Film Studies/Journal canadien d'études cinématographiques. | |
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Centre for Research on Intermediality |
| The CRI is the first research centre in Canada on the subject of intermediality and its historical, sociological, cultural and political implications. | |
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Domitor |
| Founded by André Gaudreault (GRAFICS/Université de Montréal) and Tom Gunning (University of Chicago), this international association is dedicated to research on early cinema. | |
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Women Film Pioneers |
| A project intended to facilitate and stimulate research on the contribution of women to the art and industry of cinema during the silent era. The WPF’s third international conference, held in Montreal in June 2004, was co-organized by GRAFICS. A publication on Canadian film pioneers is currently in preparation. | |
Individuals and Companies
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Léo-Ernest Ouimet |
| An exceptional document, this is an interview with the Quebec cinema pioneer recorded for television by Radio-Canada. | |
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William Eckstein |
| A website devoted to the life and career of the most famous accompanist of silent films in the province of Quebec. | |
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Charles Urban, Motion Picture Pioneer |
| Prepared by historian Luke McKernan, this site offers an excellent introduction to the career of this important pioneer, who produced several films in Canada. | |
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Lady Lumberjack: Dorothea Mitchell |
| Explore the fascinating journey of this Canadian film pioneer. | |
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Charlie Chaplin |
| Major research project on the life and career of Charles Chaplin, supported by the British Film Institute. | |
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The Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc. |
| A website dedicated to the Thanhouser studio founded in New Rochelle, New Jersey, active from 1909 to 1917. The Thanhouser star Florence LaBadie was a native of Montreal. | |
Publications
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Revue Cinémas |
| Academic journal devoted to film studies, based at the Université de Montréal. GRAFICS members publish in it regularly. | |
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Hors-Champ |
| Based in Montreal, this group holds regular screenings, in addition to publishing interviews, film criticism and opinion pieces on-line. | |
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Nouvelles vues sur le cinéma québécois |
| This online journal offers a wide selection of interviews and specialized texts on Quebec cinema. | |
DVD
| Many DVDs on the market are poor transfers of damaged copies of silent films. The condition of these DVDs obviously does not do justice to the talents of early cinema practitioners. However, some good alternatives exist. The DVDs released by the following companies offer high-quality transfers of archival copies, often restored and accompanied by specially prepared soundtracks. | |
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Flicker Alley |
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Image Entertainment |
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Kino Video |
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Milestone Films |