Early Italian Cinema
Ever since the retrospective Il primo cinema italiano 1905-1945 (1988) and the accompanying book Hartstocht en heldendom (Passion and heroism), edited by Nelly Voorhuis and me for the Mecano Foundation, I am fascinated by early Italian cinema. First of all, by the diva genre and actresses such as Lyda Borelli, Pina Menichelli and Francesca Bertini; then, by the epic cinema of such films as Quo Vadis?; by early Italian comedy, both the action comedies by Cretinetti and Kri Kri as well as the cheeky situational comedies of Ambrosio and Cines; and by the picturesque Italian travelogues. Up till now this has lead to lectures in Paris (1991), Amsterdam (1993 and 1995), Riga (1996), Turin (1997), Bologna (1999), Udine (2000), Rome (2004) and Salerno (2005); articles in Iris, Jaarboek voor Mediageschiedenis (Annual for media history), KINtop, Fotogenia, and Jong Holland; and chapters in volumes as Cinémémoire 1 (1991), Sperduti nel buio. Il cinema muto italiano e il suo tempo 1905-1930 (1991), Cinema italiano in Europa 1907-1929 (1993), Cabiria e il suo tempo (1998), The Tenth Muse. Cinema & other arts /La decima musa.
Il cinema e le altre arti (2001), and Film and its Multiples/Il cinema e i suoi multipli (2003). My most recent lecture, on Lyda Borelli among painting, photography and cinema (2005), will be published as part of the conference papers of the seminar of the University of Salerno on acting in theater & cinema. In the future, I intend to publish a volume on early Italian cinema, which focuses on intermedial relationships & visual culture: cinema, painting, photography, publicity and tourism.