Matthew Solomon (CUNY Staten Island) 

Reaching the Whole World, 1896-2010: The Global Circulation of Star-Films

The motto of Georges Méliès’s Star-Film trademark, which was founded in 1896, was “The Whole World Within Reach.” Méliès attempted to provide cinematic visions that spanned the whole world—and indeed went beyond the confines of the planet—but this presentation is more concerned with inverting this motto to examine how Star-Films “reached the whole world” from 1896 to present. How did Star-Films circulate during different periods of film history? How have specific institutions, individuals, legal codes, and new technologies (synchronized sound, 16mm, DVD, the Internet) both supported and thwarted the global circulation of Star-Films during distinct historical periods? Can these patterns of circulation be mapped synchronically and/or diachronically? 

The presentation considers the ways that institutions and distribution entities (Edison Manufacturing Company, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art Film Library, Cinémathèque française, Blackhawk Films, YouTube, Google Video, et al.) have defined parameters for the international circulation of Star-Films. Attention will also be paid to the roles played by individual collectors and entrepreneurs as well as the impact of United States copyright law and the French droit d’auteur. 

Episodes in this long history discussed are the widespread duping of Star-Films during the 1900s, the struggle over the rights to a large cache of Star-Films that surfaced in the United States during the early 1930s, and the entry of Star-Films into the public domain on January 1, 2009. As cherished products of a seminal auteur and celebrated artifacts of French cultural heritage, Star-Films have hardly been neglected—especially as of late—but a study of the way these films have circulated nevertheless constitutes a revealing case-study of exactly how moving images have moved (or been prevented from moving) around the world from the late-nineteenth century to the early twenty-first.

Matthew Solomon's presentation will be followed by a screening of 

Rip’s Dream (La lègende de Rip Van Winkle, Georges Méliès, 1905)