Short Films from a Small Nation
Danish Informational Cinema 1935-1965
Published on 15. January 2018
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-4744-2413-4 (ISBN)
Description
For three decades, state-sponsored short filmmaking educated Danish citizens, promoted Denmark to the world, and shaped the careers of renowned directors like Carl Th. Dreyer. The first book-length study in English of a national corpus of state-sponsored informational film, this book traces how Danish shorts on topics including social welfare, industry, art and architecture were commissioned, funded, produced and reviewed from the inter-war period to the 1960s. Examining the life cycle of a representative selection of films, and discussing their preservation and mediation in the digital age, this book presents a detailed case study of how informational cinema is shaped by, and indeed shapes, its cultural, political and technological contexts.
Reviews / Votes
Focusing on the institution known as Dansk Kulturfilm, Claire Thomson provides an intriguing account of Denmark's rich contributions to 'useful cinema' across three decades. Thomson's sophisticated study offers rich findings based on impressive archival research, astute institutional analysis, and concept development relevant to the study of film and small nations. A powerful articulation of the public value of film, Short Films from a Small Nation is compelling. -- Professor Mette Hjort, University of CopenhagenMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
25 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4744-2413-4 (9781474424134)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2017
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€24.49
Available for download
E-Book
12/2017
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€0.00
Available for download
Person
Dr C. Claire Thomson is Professor of Cinema History at University College London (UCL), where she is the Director of Film Studies and teaches Nordic cinema and cultural history, as well as translation from the Scandinavian languages. Her previous publications include the monographs Thomas Vinterberg's Festen (U Washington P, 2013) and Short Films from a Small Nation: Danish Informational Cinema 1935-1965 (EUP 2018), the edited volume Northern Constellations: New Readings in Nordic Cinema (Norvik, 2006), and numerous articles on short films, film and public health, multisensory cinema and the work of Carl Th. Dreyer and Thomas Vinterberg. She is an editor of the journals Scandinavica and Kosmorama.
Content
AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter One - Enlightenment and utility: Informational film as useful cinemaChapter Two - 'We are a little land': Informational film and small-nation cinemaChapter Three - Mapping Messiness: The informational film archive & Actor-Network TheoryChapter Four - 'The film world's cooperative store': Institutions and films of the 1930s and 1940sChapter Five - 'A film-progressive nation': The Social Denmark series and the British documentary movementChapter Six - 'Somethin' about Scandinavia': Danish shorts on the post-war international sceneChapter Seven - 'Citizens of the Future': Informational film and the welfare stateChapter Eight - 'A free hand': The art film versus the art of documentaryChapter Nine - Symphony of a short film: A City Called CopenhagenConclusionReferences