Ivo Blom

On Friday 12 December, there will be the launch of the special issue of the Dutch journal Roma Aeterna, dedicated to Cinema Roma: Film in Rome/ Rome on film. I will be one of the speakers. My contribution to the journal is an elaboration of an older blog post on this blog, actually the most visited one, on the film locations of Michelangelo Antonioni’s film L’Eclisse (1962). The journal is Dutch written. Other contributors are e.g. Linde Luijnenburg, Elio Baldi, David Rijser, Robin Oomkes and Rixt Weeber.

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Yesterday, I heard that my Belgian colleague and friend Guido Convents has died. He was already ill for quite some time and had had a big operation in June. I cannot recall exactly when we first contacted each other and when we first met, but through our mutual friend and colleague Karel Dibbets, the mentor of my dissertation (1994-2000) we had intense contact over early cinema in Belgium and the Netherlands, fairground cinema, and the earliest film shows in both countries. Already in 1992, when I was still working at the film archive the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now Eye Filmmuseum), we published on the presence of Italian silent film in both Belgium and the Netherlands, in a volume edited by Vittorio Martinelli: Cinema muto italiano in Europa, 1907-1929. Guido found out and published in 1997 in the Dutch Jaarboek Mediageschiedenis that the Belgian entrepreneur Edouard Schraenen had been essential for the introduction of the Lumière screenings in the Netherlands, but also delved into the importance of the Germany born travelling exhibitor Henri Grünkorn for travelling cinema in both Belgium and the Netherlands. We both continued on our dissertations, which Guido debated at the University of Leuven in 1999, and I at the University of Amsterdam in 2000. His was entitled Cultuurvernieuwing in het groot en ondernemerschap in het klein: Ontstaan en doorbraak van een universeel filmvermaak in België, 1894-1908. Already one year after, in 2000, Guido published his commercial edition, Van kinetoscoop tot café-ciné. De eerste jaren van de film in België 1894-1908, which was well reviewed in 2001 by Bert Hogenkamp in Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis.

Afterward, Guido planned to do a sequel on cinema in Belgium in the 1910s, but other duties called. Parallel to his research on early cinema, he became a specialist in African cinema, resulting in being a jury member at various festivals and distributing film awards for OCIC, later SIGNIS. He was also a major film critic, who published countless articles but also many books, such as Afrika verbeeld (2003), Images & démocratie (2006), and Images et paix (2008). In 2014 he also was co-editor of the volume Albert en Elisabeth, de film van een koninklijk leven, on the former king and queen of Belgium. He was co-author with Raul Peck of the photo book Transmission (2023), based on photos by Kris de Witte and made in occasion of the Afrika FilmFestival in Leuven, which Guido co-founded in 1996 and ran for several years, for which he was given a Lifetime Award. Guido has been called a real networker, who managed to bring all kinds of films and people together, and showing both the good and bad sides of life in Africa, both in the past and the present. Guido was also a polyglot, and always criticised the lack of languages with other people. His knowledge of Portuguese came in hand when a Portuguese journalist once commented that a former colony like Mozambique never had had any film culture. Guido immediately delved into the topic, and what originally was intended as an article became a full book. In 2010-11, he first published two Dutch-written monographs on Mozambican film in the Belgian magazine Cinemagie, entitled Filmcultuur in Mozambique (1896–1975) and Filmcultuur in Mozambique (1975–2010), while in 2011 he published in Portuguese an expanded version, IMAGENS & REALIDADE: Moçambicanos perante o cinema e o audiovisual. Uma história política-cultural do Moçambique colonial até a República de Moçambique (1896-2010).

Finally, Guido was not only a scholar, journalist, organizer and networker, he was also a very amiable man, who at times could be very critical and stubborn, but was also a very generous man who enjoyed life, good food and beer. We raised the glass whenever we met. A last salute to you, Guido!

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Dear all, I retired from my university on 1 April. Last Friday, we had a celebratory event an my university, in which I also commemorated my over 30 years in the ‘teaching business’ and my previous career, e.g. at the (before Eye) Filmmuseum. I’ll admit I don’t fully retire, as till 1 Sept. 2027 I’ll keep a 0.01 contract in order to be able to finish my research project Museum of Dream Worlds. Thus, in case you’d wonder, I’ll keep my university mail address until that date for sure. Here are some impressions of the event. After laudatory speeches by my colleague Sebastian Scholz and my former chair Ginette Verstraete, we showed two short silent films on Greek and Roman Antiquity, with newly made music by Daan van den Hurk , and part of a new compilation on the Eye Film Player, established by Elif Rongen & myself within the framework of my current research project, Museum of Dream Worlds. Afterward, I took my audience on a journey through my academic career, mainly dealing with education (including innovation in education) & research (including my three monographs and the two exhibitions I worked on). It was a merry reunion of actual and former colleagues from VU and UvA, former students, and former and actual collaborators of Eye Filmmuseum. I was loaded with gifts e.g. four rare lantern slides on the 1913 Quo vadis, a box with old postcards, an Italian ‘locandina’ of Annie, Get Your Gun, books, rare wines, etc. Eye gifted me with a beautiful original Italian film poster from the Desmet Collection: a Cines comedy with Kri Kri, designed by Romeo Marchetti. My university cosponsored the drinks, while my department gave me an attractive overnight stay at the seaside in Noordwijk with hotel & restaurant, plus some delicious prosecco.

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Early April, we held our second focus group meeting of the Museum of Dream Worlds (MoD) project in Amsterdam, following our first meeting in London (2024). With the others of my team behind the project (Maria Wyke & Aylan Atacan from UCL, Bryony Dixon from BFI), we would like to sincerely thank all the attendees of the workshop for their active involvement. Their contributions and discussions were incredibly insightful and much appreciated. We are especially grateful to our partner, Eye Filmmuseum, and in particular to Maral Mohsenin, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, Soeluh van den Berg, and Sylke de Heus for their generous support. Attendees were: Andrea Meneghelli, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, Eric Moormann, Leonardo de Franceschi, Maral Mohsenin, Morgan Corriou, Soeluh van den Berg, Stella Dagna, Stéphanie Salmon, Steven Jacobs, Sylke de Heus, Valentine Robert, Jan Paul Crielaard. For the full programme, look here. This link will also show you information on our previous workshops in Bologna and London.

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On Friday 14 March, I will give a paper on the 1910 Pathé Frères film Cléopâtre, starring Madeleine Roch, during a conference at the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé in Paris. The day before, on Thursday 13 March, at the same venue, I will introduce a programme of early French and Italian silents, with La caduta di Troia (The Fall of Troy, Itala Film 1911) as main film. All of this within the context of the last weeks of the exhibition Antiquité et cinéma at the Fondation, which close 29 March.

If you are in or near London, on 19 March at the Cinema Museum in Kennington, Maria Wyke will be introducing an evening screening of a variety package of silent films set in ancient Greece or Rome accompanied by live music. Details can be found on the Cinema Museum website cinemamuseum.org.uk as well as the means to reserve seats (payment is at the door on the night). A programme of ‘antiquities’ at the Cinema Museum, Kennington at 19:30, 19 March, with L’Odissea (The Odyssey, Milano Film 1912) as main film.

My paper and my introduction in Paris and Maria Wyke’s film programme in London are connected to our research project, Museum of Dream Worlds. By chance, we have two Homer topics in one month.

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On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 February, the conference Cabiria Atlas will take place at the Aula Magna of the University of Turin (Via Verdi 9). I will be the first speaker on Thursday morning, dealing with the trans- and intra-medial discussion of four early Itala Film productions that precur the famous 1914 epic Cabiria by Itala Film, and are focused on either Roman or Greek Antiquity: Giulio Cesare (1909), Principessa e schiava (1909), La caduta di Troia (1911) and Clio e Filete (1911). Most prints involved stem from the BFI collection and indeed my paper is framed within our research project Museum of Dream Worlds , that focuses on silent films on the Greco-Roman world within the BFI collection, compared with films and non-film objects in various European archives such as those of Paris, Amsterdam and Turin. At Cabiria Atlas, principal investigator of Museum of Dream Worlds, Maria Wyke (UCL), will talk after me about Cabiria‘s reception in the UK, while Maciste-expert Jacqueline Reich (Marist College) will complete our slot with a talk about the Maciste films. The conference also contains two screenings in the nighttime: Occhi che videro (1989) on Maria Adriana Prolo, founder of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, introduced by Donata Pesenti Campagnoni, and Italia. Il fuoco, la cenere (2021) by Olivier Bohler and Céline Gailleurd, introduced by Silvio Alovisio.

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Dear blog readers,

From today, 10 November 2024, you can download the PDF of my latest monograph, Quo vadis?, Cabiria and the ‘Archaeologists’: Early Italian Cinema’s Appropriation of Art and Archaeology, from this website. As I am very much in favour of open data and open access, I am happy that my editor Kaplan in Turin has permitted me to do so. As my previous monograph Reframing Luchino Visconti was downloaded from this site over 5000 times, we’ll see how far this book gets. Enjoy! And if you intend to write a review, please let me know.

If instead you’d prefer the paper version, it is still for sale at the site of Kaplan, or with various book sellers.

And if you’d like to (re)watch the book trailer, here it is:

Kindest regards,

Ivo Blom

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While I normally mainly post about work, this time I couldn’t avoid some info on my personal state of affairs. Indeed, it is a long time since my last post of November 2023, but meanwhile, a lot has happened. I had a brain infarct at Easter this year, which upset my balance and coordination. After two weeks of hospital, I was six weeks at a rehab clinic, where I underwent the whole trajectory from wheelchair to rollator to walking stick. End of May I went back home. Since mid-August I walk without the stick but I am still practising (with a helmet) to ride my bike again. An Amsterdamer without a bike is not possible, but getting used to the traffic of fast fat bikes and normal bikes is a challenge, in addition to cars, trams, buses, delivery vans, trucks, and tourists. My energy is still limited, so I still get tired quite easily, and my walks can still be wobbly.

Many of my Spring and early Summer activities had to be cancelled, while my teaching and grading obligations were swiftly taking over by others – a relief and a big thank you. Yet, I conquered all the obstacles to go to Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna end of June (a first milestone in my recovery trajectory), where I even co-introduced a film and chaired a workshop. Afterward, I worked hard on my recovery the whole Summer through. I also managed to go on holidays to Southwest England in September (alternating walks with rest & reading). I recently undertook the trip to Pordenone for the Giornate del Cinema Muto, the first trip on my own. It was all tiresome but deeply gratifying, and I was greatly helped by others such as the festival managements, the therapists from the rehab clinic, and my own man.

This Autumn, I have started my work on the research project Museum of Dream Worlds again, but low key and mostly from my home. We moved our next workshop (on invitation, small group) at Eye Filmmuseum from November to next April, so we’ll have more time to prepare. For this, I will not only research the Eye collection, but I will also visit some Parisian archives, together with the opening of the upcoming exhibition Peplum at the Fondation Seydoux-Pathé (11 December). We are working on our database of BFI silents on Greco-Roman Antiquity, which gives me great joy and for which I can greatly benefit from my previous research, including my 2023 book Quo vadis?, Cabiria, and the ‘Archaeologists’: Early Cinema’s Appropriation of Art and Archaeology (Torino: Kaplan, 2023). I already identified a few film titles and actors, but could also deepen my research in recycling of sets.

Meanwhile, reviews of my book gradually come in. After Jan-Christopher Horak’s first review on his blog Archival Spaces (November 2023), it was particular this year that reviews appeared in a wide array of journals, from film & media journals like Screen, Imago (Roma3) and Medienwissenschaft Rezensionen/Reviews, to art journals (Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide), and journals on Ancient Studies (International Journal of the Classical Tradition). Reviews already written will appear soon in Annali di italianistica, Incontri, Histoire de l’Art and Cinéma et Cie. Other reviews have been promised for Nineteenth -Century Theatre and Film and The Historical Journal for Film, Radio and Television. Deeply grateful also for this. You can read the published reviews here.

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Here is an update on the presentations of my new book, Quo vadis?, Cabiria and the ‘Archaeologists’: Early Italian Cinema’s Appropriation of Art and Archaeology (Turin: Kaplan, 2023). So far, I have given book presentations in October-November in: Pordenone (Giornate del Cinema Muto, 12/10), Turin (University of Turin, 17/10), Rome (Royal Dutch Institute, 20/10), and Amsterdam (Eye Filmmuseum, 3/11).

The presentation in Pordenone was the international premiere and the launch of the extended book trailer (only visible at presentations, in contrast to the teaser on YouTube). Together with two other book presentations, I had a Q&A with the Giornate’s book fair coordinator and host, Paolo Tosini. We had some sixty visitors. Afterward, there was a nice drink at the Teatro Verdi, where I signed various books.

The second edition was in Turin at the Sala Blu of the Palazzo del Rettorato, an impressive 17th century building and the heart of university of Turin. Our panel consisted of e.g. the vice-rector and professor Media Studies Giulia Carluccio and Domenico De Gaetano, director of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, who both gave welcome words and paid tribute to the book, while Claudia Gianetto (Museo Nazionale del Cinema) chaired the session. Afterward, we had a nice interdisciplinary series of presentations by myself, by Silvio Alovisio on early Italian cinema, transnationality and transmediality, Alessia Fassone on the Museo Egizio and Egyptomania, and Giovanna Ginex on Italian 19th century painters of Antiquity. After answering questions from the audience (among whom experts in film, theatre, art, etc.), we closed off with drinks in the courtyard.

The third edition took place at the Dutch Institute (KNIR) in Rome, which is idyllically situated just outside of the Villa Borghese park, in a monumental villa from the 1930s. Despite a public transport strike and sirocco, we managed to have representatives from all three Roman universities, either in our panel or among the audience. While Maria Bonaria Orban, staff member History of the Institute, chaired the round table, we had a rich mix of disciplines represented, with Luca Mazzei (Tor Vergata) on the historiography of Italian silent film, Stefano Cracolici (Durham University) on cinema of the 1910s as one of transfiguration & belatedness, Monika Wozniak (Sapienza) on Quo vadis in art & popular culture, and Maria Assunta Pimpinelli (Cineteca Nazionale) on the archivist perspective, canon & availability of prints. After my own speech, I offered the book to managing director, Tesse Stek. Also here, we had a merry round of drinks to toast on the book. The round table & presentation was also an excellent way to meet old and new friends in Rome again.

The fourth presentation took place at the Amsterdam Eye Filmmuseum, an institute with which I already have a forty years old relationship, both privately and professionally. After the welcome by Elif Rongen, Head of Silent Film, and me, we had the extended trailer once more (greatly admired and in presence of the editor Machiel Sprujt), followed by an informal Q&A between Elif Rongen and me. Finally, we showed the compilation film film Italia: Fire and Ashes by Céline Gailleurd and Olivier Bohler, which had commentary by Isabella Rossellini, and which contains many clips from the Eye collection (the highest number, compared to other archives). Attendance was massive, over ninety persons, while also the drinks afterward at the atrium were well visited. I signed many books that were sold on the spot and received many positive reactions both during and after the event.

My for the time being last presentation is coming up soon, on 24 November, at the Fondation Seydoux-Pathé in Paris. Here my presentation will be followed by the projection of the film Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914), one of the films central to my book.

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Tags: Amsterdam, archaeology, book presentation, Cabiria, cinema, cinema and painting, cinema italiano, early cinema, EYE, film, film and art, Italian cinema, Italy, KNIR, Le giornate del cinema muto, Palazzo del Rettorato, Paris, Pordenone, Quo vadis?, Royal Dutch Institute, silent film, Teatro Verdi, Turin, university

On Friday 29 September, I will give a – Dutch told – lecture at the platform on Interiors entitled Interiors: Real or fake?, at the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. Title of my paper: Het Romeinse interieur in kunst en film: studie, illusie en hergebruik [the Roman interior in art and film: study, illusion, and reuse]. More info.

On Thursday 12 October, I will give my first book presentation at the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, Italy. This refers to my new book Quo vadis?, Cabiria, and the ‘Archaeologists’: Early Cinema’s Appropriation of Art and Archaeology , which will appear with the Turinese publisher Kaplan, as part of the series La favilla, la vampa, la cenere, edited by Silvio Alovisio and Luca Mazzei. See the teaser trailer below. For more, on my research on Italian early cinema & the arts, look here.

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