National Fairground Archive

International Network on Local Films in the early 1900s

Still from the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection

In 2003 the British Academy awarded a grant of £10,200 to Dr Vanessa Toulmin of the National Fairground Archive to set up an International Network on Local Films in the 1900s. This is in partnership with the University of Trier and the University of Stockholm.

The Network provides a forum in which a core group of ten academics from different countries meet on an annual basis. The first Network meeting was held in Germany at Trier University, Department of Media Studies & Cinematheque Municipale de Luxembourg on 3 and 4 June 2003. Subsequent workshops were held in August 2004 at the University of Stockholm and July 2005 at the University of Sheffield.

The first day included screenings of Local Film from Trier, the Ruhr area and other German spots and a presentation by Dr Ivo Blom (University of Amsterdam) "Around the World 90 Years Ago".

June 4 2003 - Presentations and Discussions

Uli Jung: Early Local Films in Germany and their Significanse in Early Short Feature Programmes

Brigitte Braun: Peter Marzen - Successful in Local Film Entertainment

Daniela Kirsten and Susanne Klein: Presenting Early Films to Today's Audience in Trier

Paul Hoffmann: Local Films from the Ruhr Area

Martin Loiperdinger: Ludwig Neumayer and Bavaria Films Straubing

Vanessa Toulmin: Mitchell and Kenyon and the Local in the United Kingdom

Each workshop will be dedicated to a particular theme and include film and other visual presentations with creative and critical exploration of the issues. The workshops would also provide an appropriate forum for the presentation of academic findings and work towards a collective publication.

Research topics to be examined include the following:

• The 'design' and 'typology' of the Local Film and how, if and why they can be categorised
• Local Films in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and the Nederlands
• Distribution of local films beyond the region.
• Exhibition patterns and programming - the influence of the Local

The Marzen Family - Film Pioneers in Southwest Germany

The Marzen family, based in Trier, was travelling round with a cinema show between Metz, Luxembourg, Saarbrücken , and Koblenz, from the late 1890s up to spring 1909 when the Marzens took over a stable/stationary cinema in Trier. There, Peter Marzen ran one cinema, for some time even two cinemas, up to 1926. From 1911 up to 1915, his brother, Hubert Marzen, ran a cinema in the city of Luxembourg.

In cooperation with KINtop, the German Yearbook of Early Cinema, the Media Studies Department at Trier University has initiated research on the pioneering activities of the Marzen family in local film production and film exhibition.

see bibliography on Marzen in the Trier region LINK

Marzens' Local Films of Trier

From 1902 until 1914, the Marzens produced at least 16 local films which covered local events and views of Trier, such as the Pentecost procession in 1902, church goers after Sunday service, the Mardis Gras parade and the Corpus Christi procession in 1904, artillery maneuvers in 1906, the historical parade commemorating the 100th anniversary of Emperess Augusta Viktoria in 1911, and the flower parade of the local cyclists' association in 1914. Of a broader interest was the International Marianic Congress in 1912 which drew large numbers of visitors from the vicinity. As soon as the Marzen family had taken over the stationary cinema in Trier, the programmes of May, June and July 1909 offered four local films: church goers after Sunday service, peasants trading cattle on a local market, the local fire brigade in action, and the 35th anniversary parade of the men's choir 'Eintracht'.

Blumenkorso 1914 - Cyclists' club flower parade - Peter Marzen with hat in hand

Churchgoers in Trier after service - Peter Marzen holding girl - his father to the left

It is probably fair to say that there is no other German city of the size of Trier (ca. 50.000 inhabitants before WWI) that can boast of only approximating the number of early local views which are extant:
see filmography of local films of Trier: LINK filmography

Showman Peter Marzen

Peter Marzen was a show man / an impresario, standing next to the screen and explaining the films of the programme in the popular vernacular of the region. In his local films there were not only masses of Trierers to be seen, but Marzen himself stepped into the frame, directed bystanders, gave little signs to the camera operator. He 'organized' the picture, acting and directing at the same time. And when the respective films were being screened, the audience was watching Marzen watching himself. Through the effect such a duplicity could have on the audience, it is likely that Marzen´s conferences were rather humoristic, self-ironical, mocking. Obviously he made these cameos a regular routine: Appearing in person in his films became something like his trademark.

Further Perspectives
“What film historiography of today has at hand are not even the filmographical data of the local views; moreover only the smallest fraction of the entire production has survived. In addition we cannot as much as conjecture the actual audience appeal of these films. We have an idea of how they were being presented, but not how they were being recveived. To achieve more knowledge towards that direction, many studies into the local media histories will be necessary.” (Uli Jung: Local Views: a blind spot in the historiography of early German Cinema. In: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 22, Number 3, August 2002, p. 269)

Future events include a themed session at the Domitor Conference at the University of Utrecht, 19-23rd June 2004 and the third Visual Delights conference in July 2005 at the University of Sheffield.

For further information please contact:

Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Project Co-ordinator at the National Fairground Archive University of Sheffield.
e-mail: fairground @ sheffield.ac.uk

All photographs are copyright the British Film Institute and are taken from the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection. This is a three-year research collaboration funded by the AHRB with the University of Sheffield and the bfi.