Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

portance du matériel et à l’urgence d’agir avant qu’il ne soit trop tard,
c’est-à-dire que les films en question aient disparu ou qu’ils se soient
détériorés au point de ne plus être récupérables.
Ce comité au sein de l’AMIA aide à sensibiliser davantage les archives et
les cinémathèques de ce continent à la valeur intrinsèque du métrage
amateur et certains pays, comme le Mexique, commencent à s’y
intéresser sérieusement.
Kaiser, Kintopp & Karossen
Early Amateur Films by Julius
Neubronner: Restored
Walter Schobert
In November 1991, Carl Neubronner of Kronberg, near Frankfurt,
donated a collection of amateur films to the Deutches Filmmuseum.
These films were shot by his father Julius Neubronner in Kronberg and
its surroundings between 1903 and 1920. The films not only provide
important historical footage, they also document the development of
early cinema in Germany. Therefore, the Deutsches Filmmuseum
decided to start a restoration project in order to provide the films for scientific
research projects on the history of film and to make them accessible
to a wider public.
Julius Neubronner (1852-1932) worked as a court pharmacist, but also
proved to be a multifaceted inventor. In his youth he experimented with
photographic devices and during his lifetime developed devices such as
a panoramic aerial camera carried by doves, an example of which is kept
in the Equipment Archives of the Deutches Filmmuseum. In 1905,
Neubronner took out a patent for one of his most successful inventions,
a self-adhesive tape which was produced commercially in the little factory
he owned. His interest in the development of early cinematography
resulted in the production of a series of amateur films. Thus Julius
Neubronner became one of the first non-professional filmmakers in
Germany we know of. Originally, his films were just shot for private purposes,
as family entertainment. Documenting scenes from the close surroundings,
everyday situations and family life, they can be compared to
the first films of famous pioneers such as the Lumière or Skladanowsky
brothers. But beyond merely recording what appeared in front of the
camera, Neubronner skillfully experimented with the specific possibilities
that the new medium offered and started to create a different kind of
reality by employing camera effects. The Hunter’s Dream, shot in 1903, is
a mise-en-scène production. It shows an elderly hunter who lights his
pipe, reads the newspaper and falls asleep. He dreams of receiving a
magic drink by the spirit of youth that promises everlasting youth and
47 Journal of Film Preservation / 53 / 1996
Pharmacien à la cour, Julius Neubronner
(1852-1932) était aussi un inventeur
polyvalent. Dès son enfance, il fit des
expérieces avec des appareils
photographiques. Plus tard, il développa des
procédés et des astuces (tels que des prises
de vue aériennes à l’aide de pigeons) qui
firent de lui l’un des pionniers du cinéma
amateur en Allemagne.
En novembre 1991, Carl Neubronner
déposa les films de son père Julius au
Deutsches Filmmuseum. Tournés à
Kronberg, près de Francfort, entre 1903 et
1920, ces films constituent une source
historique importante. Ils documentent aussi
bien le développement de la région que le
devenir du cinéma des premiers temps en
Allemagne. Le programme de restauration
entrepris par le Deutsches Filmmuseum
rendra ces films accessibles au public, aux
chercheurs et aux historiens.