First World War Collections

>> View collection The Romanian Film Archive provides access to 12 films from their collection related to World War One.

>> View collection From its holdings related to the First World War the Federal Archives / Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Berlin makes available different genres such as newsreels – "Messter-Woche", partly tinted, short documentaries – "Bilder aus der großen Schlacht" (Pictures of the great Battle in the West), part one to six.

>> View collection The CNC French Film Archives give access to over 100 films related to the First World War. These include films produced both during the war – although authorities were quick to exploit the film industry – and in the post-war period.

>> View collection The CINEMATEK World War One collection contains a large variety of newsreels, documentary and feature films, mostly produced in the decade after the war. The images include representations of Belgium ("Poor Little Belgium") as a victim of the 'Great War', the fate and suffering of women during the war or the Flemish emancipation and how films mainly produced by Clemens De Landtsheer contributed to the myth of the Flemish soldier on the Yser.

>> View collection Cineteca di Bologna provides access to a series of restored silent films. The films selected stem from the period of World War One and include newsreels and documentaries shot during the Italian colonial campaign in Lybia; Propaganda shorts depicting the bravery of the Italian Army before the War;

>> View collection Cineteca Nazionale in Rome provides access to a collection of films related to the First World War.

>> View collection The Danish Film Institute gives access to documentary footage and films as well as fiction films from the period 1914-1918. The documentary collection contains both general "news" items from the period, with events and actuality items, but also some of the earliest footage from the German captured territories in Northern France and Prussia.

>> View collection The World War One collection from the archives of the Deutsche Kinemathek contains over thirty films as well as other film-related material such as film related documents, posters and film stills.

>> View collection The corpus of films digitised by DFF within the framework of EFG1914 is largely composed of non-fiction material such as newsreels, documentaries, propaganda films, and amateur footage. Fictional films make up a smaller part of the material and include, beyond feature films, some “Tonbilder” (sound pictures) – short films that were synchronously accompanied by a gramophone record in cinema.

>> View collection Estonian Film Archives is giving access to 6 films and about 2,500 photos. Two of the films – "Tartu and its Surroundings" and "Tartu Volunteer Firefighters’ Society Celebrating its 50th Anniversary" – depict war-time life in the Southern Estonian town of Tartu, called Dorpat at the time. The films were made by the very first Estonian filmmaker – Johannes Pääsuke.

>> View collection Most of the posters EYE is contributing for EFG1914 are part of the Desmet Collection. Jean Desmet was a pioneer film distributor whose business went into bankruptcy around 1916, due to the economic effects of the WWI. Until then, Desmet tried to trade with all kinds of film companies from all over the world, and kept his papers and promotional material for the rest of his life.

>> View collection For the EFG1914 project, EYE is contributing more than 300 film items totaling about 100 hours, and more than 900 film posters from the 1910s. The films are selected according to various criteria. Newsreels, travelogues and also fiction films from the period of 1914 to 1918 from numerous countries are included.

>> View collection Filmarchiv Austria makes available 10 films from their collection relating to World War I.

>> View collection Filmoteca Española presents a selection of documentaries, newsreels and non-fiction movies showing the Spanish daily city and country life during the second decade of the 20th century. Amateur movies are also included. Newsreels include international news of WWI (The Battle of the Somme, Marshall Von MacKensen advancing on Dobrudja… and more).

>> View collection CulturArts-IVAC contributes a feature film collection that reflects the disadvantageous impact of the war in the film production of a non-belligerent country like Spain. Three melodramas starring the great actress Margarita Xirgu and one more starring the exotic dancer Tortola Valencia show the impossibility of the Spanish film industry, then led by Barcelona-based producers, for taking advantage of those exceptional circumstances.

>> View collection This WW1 Collection held by the National Film Archive in Warsaw includes newsreels, documentaries and feature films relating to the First World War and its aftermath. Among them there are unique documentary materials from the Polish-Bolshevik war of August 1920 (the battle of Nasielsk).

>> View collection FCI gives access to two collections: Films by Luca Comeria and treasures of Italian Silent film from the period of the First World War. The collection of films shot  by Luca Comerio, a pioneer of Italian cinema, covers a period from the beginning of the 20th century until about 1920 and consists of over 30 works, including documentaries, excerpts and short comedy sketches.

>> View collection IWM has an extensive collection relating to the First World War including diaries and letters, works of art, photographs, three dimensional objects, books, pamphlets and film. The Film Archive holds around 250 hours (projected at 18fps) of First World War material. The collection illustrates all aspects of the conflict, both at home and on the fighting fronts. It includes the renowned film The Battle of the Somme - now granted UNESCO Memory of the World status – which shows trench warfare as captured by official army cameramen.

>> View collection Jugoslovenska Kinoteka makes available around 70 films from their collection relating to the Balkan War and World War I.
 

>> View collection The Cineteca del Friuli holds in its collections a selection of Italian silent films that make up the "Great War Fund" and can be made available to the audience. They include numerous restorations curated by the Cineteca itself over the years, originating from nitrate copies, and various other acquisitions.

>> View collection Magyar Nemzeti Digitális Archívum és Filmintézet (MaNDA) makes available 11 films from their collection relating to World War I.

>> View collection The National Cinema Museum in Turin makes available a series of fiction and documentary films preserved in its collection. The titles selected include some documentaries assembled with material shot by the Sezione Cinematografica del Regio Esercito Italiano [Royal Italian Army Film Department] and three fiction films which are useful for exemplifying the diverse ways of featuring war themes within entertainment cinema.

>> View collection The NFA film collection contains newsreels, documentary and feature films, produced in the period 1914 – 1934. The most interesting part of the collection includes the images of Czechoslovak volunteers and legionnaires fighting in the Russian, French and Italian army.

>> View collection In many of the neutral countries, daily life continued more or less unaffected by the war. The films from the Nasjonalbiblioteket (National Library of Norway) illustrate the quotidian life in Norway during the years 1914-1918, far removed from the trenches. However, information about the war reached Norway through international newsreels from companies such as Gaumont, Éclair and Pathé, often with Norwegian intertitles - these items composes a part of the Norwegian contribution to the EFG1914 project.

>> View collection The Kinonedelja (Kino-Week) newsreels constitute the first films of Dziga Vertov. A total of 43 issues, each containing an average of 5 to 7 different items, were produced between May 1918 and June 1919. Vertov joined the newsreel’s ranks as a secretary but by the fall of 1918 had taken on full responsibility for the series, defining the content and structure of each issue.