The edited volume Digital Kříženecký: The New Life of the First Czech Films focuses on the “first Czech films,” shot by Jan Kříženecký between 1898 and 1911 in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their digitization from original nitrate prints and negatives has not only made the pioneering works accessible but has also opened up many questions about their past and future. Drawing on the long-term research, presentation, and curation of the films at the National Film Archive in Prague as well as on a wide range of methodological approaches, including archival theory, history of film technology, materialist film theory, media archaeology, film aesthetics, digital humanities, and artistic research. The enclosed studies by film theorists, historians, and archivists explore the changing materiality of the films, their circulation across different eras, contexts, and media, and the ways in which the newly created digital artifacts can be exhibited or appropriated for scholarly and artistic purposes. The publication also includes an extensive edition of documents related to Jan Kříženecký and the beginnings of Czech cinema and audiovisual essays that analyze the first Czech films through images and sounds instead of written words.
Authors:
Jiří Anger, Lucie Česálková, Jaroslav Lopour, Jeanne Pommeau, Kateřina Svatoňová, Alena Šlingerová, Jan Trnka
