THE HAGHEFILM DIGITAAL – SELZNICK SCHOOL FELLOWSHIP 2017

The Haghefilm Fellowship was established in 1997 to provide additional professional training to outstanding graduates of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. The Fellowship recipient is invited to Amsterdam for one month to work alongside Haghefilm Digitaal lab professionals to preserve short films from the George Eastman Museum collection, completing each stage of the preservation project.
The recipient of the 2017 Haghefilm Digitaal Fellowship is Samuel B. Lane, from New Mexico. Sam graduated in the certificate program of the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation in June 2017. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Media Studies from the University of Rochester. Sam has worked as a film projectionist in New Mexico and at the Dryden Theatre in Rochester, NY, and he interned at the George Eastman Museum for two years. He is now completing his Master’s Degree at the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation and the University of Rochester, and working at the George Eastman Museum as Film Conservation Specialist.

Cinématographe Lumière, ca. 1896-1903
A collection of twenty 35mm rolls of Lumière films dated around 1896-1903 was recently found (in their original containers) and acquired by the George Eastman Museum. A preliminary examination of the materials has revealed that the collection consists of 11 positive and 9 negative rolls, all in almost pristine condition (one roll contains a brief extra segment, listed below as a separate entry). As this catalogue goes to press, identification of the films is under way; the attribution of original titles will be greatly facilitated once the elements have been preserved and ready for projection, which will necessarily happen only a few days before the festival (for this reason, the order in which the films will be screened may be different from the title sequence below). Once identified, the films will be listed with their exact titles in the Giornate Database of all the films screened at the festival from 1982 to the present. The database is accessible for free at http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/screenings_db.html.
Our thanks to Clara Auclair for the filmographic research on this important collection.

All film notes by Samuel Lane and Clara Auclair. The texts dealing with identified films have been adapted from descriptions in the Lumière Catalogue.

Tutte le copie/All films 35mm; senza didascalie/no intertitles; fonte/source: George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY.  Durata complessiva del programma/Total running time: 19′.

24e CHASSEURS ALPINS: SAUTS D’OBSTACLES (Sauts d’obstacles – chasseurs alpins) (FR 1897)
Lumière cat. no. 172. copia/copy: 48 ft./15 m. [771 frames], 48″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
Soldiers of the mountain infantry jump in formation over obstacles, taking care not to break their groupings. Filmed in Villefranche-sur-Mer. The title on the print is handwritten in ink on a single blank frame.

DANSE AU BIVOUAC (FR 1896)
Lumière cat. no. 266. photog: Alexandre Promio. copia/copy: 47 ft./14 m. [746 frames], 46″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
Soldiers at a camp in Madrid, Spain, dance a jota, alone and in pairs. Filmed in June 1896.

FÊTE AU VILLAGE (Fête dans un village suisse) (FR 1896)
Lumière cat. no. 312. photog: [Alexandre Promio]. copia/copy: 42 ft./13 m. [669 frames], 41″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
A scene filmed at the Swiss Village, the star attraction at the 1896 National Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. A group of men and women in traditional costume perform a circle dance among a crowd of visitors to the exhibition. The title on the print is handwritten in ink on a single blank frame.

POMPIERS: ALERTE (FR 1897)
Lumière cat. no. 723. photog: [Alexandre Promio]. copia/copy: 50 ft./15 m. [792 frames], 49″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
Steam fire-engines drawn by horses dash at full speed out of a fire station, followed down the street by onlookers. Filmed in Belfast, in northern Ireland.

SALUT DANS LES VERGUES (FR 1898)
Lumière cat. no. 837. photog: Alexandre Promio. copia/copy: 46 ft./14 m. [739 frames], 46″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
Sailors climb aloft, display flags from the rigging, and wave their hats to people on shore. Filmed in the port of Šibenik, Dalmatia, on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, in April 1898. This is a print of second generation in the collection, poorly duplicated from its source. Layers of the various elements can be seen around the edges of the frame and the frames constantly shift around, creating stability problems in the image. The print also has several shifts in exposure.

[FÊTE DU PALAIS-ROYAL #1] (FR 1899)
Variante di/Variant of Un tournoi, 1899; Lumière cat. no. 1012. copia/copy: 61 ft./19 m. [972 frames], 1′ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale/camera negative.
This re-enactment of a jousting tournament is probably an untitled entry of the “Fête du Palais-Royal” series, which was filmed in Paris on 13 June 1899.

[FÊTE DU PALAIS-ROYAL #2] (FR 1899)
copia/copy: 22 ft./7 m. [359 frames], 22″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale/camera negative.
This is most likely another untitled entry of the “Fête du Palais-Royal” series, which was filmed in Paris on 13 June 1899. It is a re-enactment of a king in a royal court knighting a man. The knight is probably the winner of the tournament seen in [Fête du Palais-Royal #1].

[FÊTE DU PALAIS-ROYAL #3: RE-ENACTMENT OF SCENES FROM “NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS”] (FR 1899)
copia/copy: 172 ft./52 m. [2,759 frames], 2’52” (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale (2 rulli) e positivo nitrato/camera negative (2 reels) and nitrate positive.
This, like the two previous films, is probably an untitled entry of the “Fête du Palais-Royal” series, which was filmed in Paris on 13 June 1899. It features scenes from Victor Hugo’s novel Notre-Dame de Paris (1831). The first scene depicts Esmeralda dancing near her goat Djali when the hunchback Quasimodo, sent by Frollo, tries to kidnap her. She is saved, and Quasimodo escapes by climbing a small church (which represents the cathedral of Notre-Dame). In the final scenes Esmeralda and her lover are betrothed, and the wedding procession heads into the church. This film (of unusual length for the period) was found in the form of two camera negatives and a projection print with a single splice.

[PANORAMIC PAINTING OF A BATTLEFIELD] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 47 ft./14 m. [753 frames], 47″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale/camera negative.
This is a 360-degree view of a panoramic painting (it may be called an early film about pre-cinema). As this catalogue goes to press, the painting is yet to be definitively identified. It could possibly be the Reichshoffen Panorama (1881) by Théophile Poilpot and Stephen Jacob, depicting a battle in Alsace during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

[MILITARY PARADE AT THE COUR D’HONNEUR IN VERSAILLES] (FR, c.1903?)
copia/copy: 43 ft./13 m. [690 frames], 43″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
This scene depicts a parade of cuirassiers and carriages during a state visit in the Cour d’Honneur in Versailles. French President Émile Loubet is in the first carriage, quickly followed by the crowd. The event appears to have attracted much media coverage, as a second camera can be briefly seen passing in front of the cameraman’s lens.
As this catalogue goes to press, the film and the event documented have yet to be positively identified. It could possibly be Départ de Sa Majesté le roi et de M. le président de Versailles (Lumière cat. no. 1392), filmed in October 1903, which depicts King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy visiting France. The lower image quality was likely caused by mistakes in the processing of the film.

[PANORAMA ON THE CREUSE RIVER #1] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 50 ft./15 m. [794 frames], 49″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale e positivo nitrato/camera negative and nitrate positive.
This film, taken from a boat travelling on a river, prominently features a large building with a sign reading “Papeterie de la Haye-Descartes”. This was a well-known French factory of the 19th and early 20th century on the Creuse River that specialized in the manufacture of high-quality paper.

[DAM ON THE CREUSE RIVER] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 50 ft./15 m. [802 frames], 50″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
Men walk across the footbridge of a weir in single file, carrying large boxes, while men in boats are fishing. The location is likely near that of [Panorama on the Creuse River #1 and #2], as the dam can be seen briefly in both of those films.

[PANORAMA ON THE CREUSE RIVER #2] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 35 ft./11 m. [558 frames], 35″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale e positivo nitrato/camera negative and nitrate positive.
In this second panorama on the Creuse River, the camera travels past many of the same buildings seen in [Panorama on the Creuse River #1]. Due to the unsteadiness of the image, there is reason to believe that the camera was handheld.

[PAPER MANUFACTURE] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 15 ft./5 m. [242 frames], 15″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale e positivo nitrato/camera negative and nitrate positive.
This brief segment was found on the same roll of film as [Panorama on the Creuse River #2], with no splice in between. The original was severely underexposed. Large rolls of paper can be seen on the right side of the image. In the background is an only partially visible sign, which could possibly read “Glaçage du papier” – the process of adding a glossy coating to paper. If so, this footage was probably shot within the factory Papeterie de la Haye-Descartes, seen in [Panorama on the Creuse River #1].

[JOURNALISTS AND TYPOGRAPHERS IN EDITORIAL OFFICE] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 46 ft./14 m. [728 frames], 45″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale/camera negative.
Two printers in workclothes set a frame of type and take it away to be printed, while a group of men in suits examine and read printed pages.

[MEN UNLOADING A TRAIN] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 51 ft./16 m. [814 frames], 50″ (16 fps); da/from: negativo originale/camera negative.
This film depicts men unloading large sacks and rolls of paper and other supplies from the car of a freight train pulled by horses. A canvas sign hangs from the second car which reads “Papeterie de la Haye-Descartes”. The scene was probably filmed near the same location seen in [Panorama on the Creuse River #1 and #2].

[TRAIN PULLING INTO A FACTORY] (FR, c.1896-1899)
copia/copy: 53 ft./16 m. [846 frames], 52″ (16 fps); da/from: positivo nitrato/nitrate positive.
The camera takes the perspective of a train as it travels down a track and into a factory. The location needs further confirmation (there is a wagon with the inscription “Chocolat Menier”), but the architecture and the chimneys resemble those of the “Papeterie de la Haye-Descartes” paper factory seen in [Panorama on the Creuse River #1 and #2], [Paper Manufacture], and [Men Unloading a Train].