The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever (Tristan Ettleman)
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| 05 Jun 2024 | The 1800s E1 - The Invention of Cinema | 00:04:00 | |
Welcome to The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever. Ahead of guests and listeners sharing their picks for the first decade or so of cinema up until the end of the nineteenth century, instructor and host Tristan Ettleman provides some context on the podcast and the creation of “moving pictures.” | |||
| 12 Jun 2024 | The 1800s E2 - J.J. DiUbaldi | 00:42:03 | |
As the first guest of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever and its 1800s season, writer and avid "prehistoric" film watcher J.J. DiUbaldi explores sound, color, and positive racial depictions (among other topics) through his five picks; things one might not expect to find in the earliest motion pictures of the 1880s and '90s. J.J. maintains zepfanman.com, an eclectic hodgepodge of his interests over the years. His goal is to connect people and facilitate sharing in a way that only the internet can provide, which includes a 10 Years 10 Films blog series that is not unlike this podcast. You can also follow him on Letterboxd @zepfanman. Visit https://www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own five favorites of the 1800s for a final tally in the season finale! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 19 Jun 2024 | The 1800s E3 - Aurore Spiers | 01:00:06 | |
As a feminist film historian and scholar, Aurore Spiers (she/her) is mainly focused on women’s contributions to film, with her work interrogating historiographical processes—what history gets written, how, and why—through the lens of gender and intersectional and multidimensional feminism. That focus is reflected in her five picks for the 1800s, as the labor behind the camera is explored and expectations of this period in film are challenged. Aurore received her PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from The University of Chicago in 2022. Since 2015, she has been a contributing editor to the Women Film Pioneers Project, edited by Jane Gaines, Monica Dall’Asta, Radha Vatsal, and Kate Saccone, and published by Columbia University Libraries. Her Twitter handle is @AurSpiers. Visit https://www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own five favorites of the 1800s for a final tally in the season finale! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 26 Jun 2024 | The 1800s E4 - Maggie Hennefeld | 00:50:34 | |
Maggie Hennefeld, Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, has literally written the book(s) on early cinematic feminist humor. Death by Laughter: Female Hysteria and Early Cinema and Specters of Slapstick and Silent Film Comediennes tackle similar themes to those explored in her five picks from the 1890s, which reveal the expansive possibilities of the earliest days of film, from anarchic comedy to those who worked behind the camera. Maggie is also a curator of the 4-disc DVD/Blu-ray collection Cinema's First Nasty Women and co-director of Archives on Screen, Twin Cities. Her socials are: Twitter: @magshenny Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hennefem/ Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/hennefem.bsky.social Visit https://www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own five favorites of the 1800s for a final tally in the season finale! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 03 Jul 2024 | The 1800s E5 - Bryony Dixon | 00:53:49 | |
Bryony Dixon is the curator of silent film at the BFI National Archive and her picks for the 1800s reflect that expertise. Bryony discusses five British films that are emblematic of key developments in the earliest days of film, which align with the end of the Victorian era that she details in her book The Story of Victorian Film. Bryony is also the author of 100 Silent Films and has written numerous articles and book chapters on silent cinema and archiving. She is co-director of the British Silent Film Festival and has programmed films for many international festivals. She has been lead curator on a number of the BFI’s recent film restorations, including Underground (1928), Shooting Stars (1927), Epic of Everest (1924), The Great White Silence (1924), all nine surviving Hitchcock silent films, and the BFI’s large format Victorian films. Her Twitter is @bryonydixon. Visit https://www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own five favorites of the 1800s for a final tally in the season finale! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 10 Jul 2024 | The 1800s E6 - Peter Domankiewicz | 01:11:41 | |
Peter Domankiewicz is a film director (Tea & Sangria), screenwriter, and journalist with a long-standing interest in the origins of cinema. That interest manifests in five picks that deconstruct some of the myths surrounding early film, including the definition of “cinema” and its “invention,” a widescreen format at least 70 years before it became a standard, and a genuinely exclusive explanation of a film residing in the French national film archive that Peter was able to identify this summer. He is currently in the final year of a fully-funded PhD at De Montfort University, examining the work and inventions of the controversial moving picture pioneer, William Friese-Greene. He has written about early film for Sight & Sound and The Guardian, contributed to reference works and journals, and has recently co-authored Finding Birt Acres: The Rediscovery of a Film Pioneer for publication by University of Exeter Press in 2025. His blog William Friese-Greene & Me presents original research on early film history for a broad readership. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 17 Jul 2024 | The 1800s E7 - The End of a Century | 00:07:00 | |
Invented within the last decade or so of the 1800s, "cinema" (a fluid definition not owed to any one person or group as this season has demonstrated) grew exponentially through the end of the century. The guests for this first season of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever have demonstrated the diversity of filmic form in this incubatory period, including technologies, genres, and representation before and behind the camera associated with much later decades. In this finale, host Tristan Ettleman summarizes the trends of the era, shares his five picks for the 1800s, and creates a "mini-canon" from guests' and listeners' picks. You can view that list at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com. And be sure to look forward to the next season on 1900, starting soon! Thank you to the guests of this first season: Films mentioned:
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| 31 Jul 2024 | 1900 E1 - The Beginning of a Century | 00:04:17 | |
The second season of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever narrows down from the decade-plus of the first down to just one calendar year. The first year of the 20th century didn't suddenly erupt the cinematic world into wholly unprecedented developments. But it fits into the trends and patterns steadily evolving through the last years of the 1800s, even as exciting changes and quality films illustrate increased output and popularity. From medical viewpoints to "animation," retroactive markers of "filmic language" to attribution mysteries, the conversations with host Tristan Ettleman's guests are sure to dispel some myths and preconceived notions of this era of cinema and encourage the discovery of both well-documented and relatively obscure movies. Join us for an exploration of 1900 with The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever! Films mentioned: | |||
| 07 Aug 2024 | 1900 E2 - Malcolm Cook | 00:44:17 | |
Malcolm Cook, Associate Professor of Film at the University of Southampton, found it challenging to pick just five works to represent 1900. But his selections embody the cross-section of genres and approaches across three countries, demonstrating how the turn of the century didn't suddenly disrupt the paradigms of the cinema of attractions but evolved them in exciting ways. Malcolm is the author of Early British Animation: From Page and Stage to Cinema Screens (2018) and co-editor (with Kirsten Moana Thompson) of the collection Animation and Advertising (2019). His current research focusses on useful animation, especially in relation to petroleum industries, with recent articles on this published in Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal (2023) and Media+Environment (2024). Films and resources mentioned:
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| 14 Aug 2024 | 1900 E3 - Matthew Solomon | 00:44:31 | |
Matthew Solomon has taught film history and theory at the University of Michigan since 2011, with special interests in early and silent cinema, classic Hollywood filmmaking, and French film. He brings all that to bear on his five picks for 1900, which contain techniques that have only retroactively been considered early displays of evolving film grammar...and indeed, they are two-fifths French. Matthew is the author of Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century and Méliès Boots: Footwear and Film Manufacturing in Second Industrial Revolution Paris, among many other books, articles, and publications. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 21 Aug 2024 | 1900 E4 - Frank Kessler | 00:55:37 | |
From misattribution to missing sound, this conversation with Frank Kessler has a bit of lamentation for the lost works and context of early cinema. But there's also some celebration that we can view any films from the turn of the century (and earlier), including his picks that include trickery and evolving film language. Frank is professor in media history at Utrecht University. His research activities concern mainly the field of early cinema and visual media in the 19th and early 20th century. His work includes the research program "The Nation and Its Other" and he acted as project leader and editor for A Million Pictures: Magic Lantern Slides in the History of Learning. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 28 Aug 2024 | 1900 E5 - Carolyn Jacobs | 00:43:24 | |
Considering Carolyn Jacobs' research focuses on the cultural history of media, especially in relation to histories of medicine, science, and public health, it makes sense that she examines her five picks through those lenses. From kissing panics to women being barred from performing surgery, the medical view of the discussed films brings new angles to understanding early cinema. Carolyn is an Assistant Professor of Media Studies in the Communication Department at Central Connecticut State University. Her current book project, Sanitizing Cinema: Public Health and the Regulation of American Film, considers the effects of health emergencies on the development of motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1900! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 04 Sep 2024 | 1900 E6 - Enri Ceballos | 00:42:19 | |
The affinity Enri Ceballos has for dance is intensely represented by his picks for 1900, four of which feature the sheer joy of human movement. Both in front of and behind the screen, these films (all French and helmed by women!) also represent the diversity of gender and sexuality at play, along with sound and color technologies, in early cinema's history. Enri is the General Director for the Mexico International Silent Film Festival, a PhD student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a member of Women and Film History International. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 11 Sep 2024 | 1900 E7 - Sound, Color, Trickery, Oh My! | 00:06:17 | |
Although this season has emphasized that the sudden transition into the 20th century didn't magically advance the still very young art form of cinema, the films selected by the guests for the 1900 edition of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever represent exciting developments. Color, sound, trickery, medicine, animation, and the ever-present regret that so many films from this era are lost were recurring themes in the conversations throughout the season. In this finale, host Tristan Ettleman briefly summarizes these themes, shares his five picks for 1900, and creates a high-level list from guests' and listeners' picks. That list, including all films submitted for the season, can be found at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list. The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1901 begins soon! Thank you to the guests of the second season: Films mentioned:
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| 25 Sep 2024 | 1901 E1 - Entertainment as Propaganda | 00:04:03 | |
About five years into film's existence as a publicly available invention and art form, 1901 offers up a number of exciting threads for where the medium did and did not go. Some aspects may appear familiar: a form of a "close-up," attempts at adapting "narrative," and the use of the movies as a propaganda tool. But as guests will point out, the intent and reception of such things may be alien to our modern eyes, from the idea of a moving picture "tableaux" to colonizing forces. Join host Tristan Ettleman for an exploration of 1901 with The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever! You can submit your own top five films for 1901 at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list. Films mentioned: | |||
| 02 Oct 2024 | 1901 E2 - Ian Christie | 00:57:50 | |
Film historian Ian Christie rewires Tristan’s brain a bit in this episode, as Ian draws parallels between the early film “adaptation” and the tableaux painting, both of which benefit from contemporary shared pathos. During the discussion of his five picks, among other things, he also provides insight into the Anglo-Boer War and the actuality genre’s dominance in 1901 even as trick films still draw our contemporary eyes. Ian is an author and Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck, University of London. Among his many works are the book Robert Paul and the Origins of British Cinema (2019) and the TV production The Last Machine (1995), both of which are discussed in this episode. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 09 Oct 2024 | 1901 E3 - Pamela Hutchinson | 00:51:13 | |
Pamela Hutchinson's Silent London has been a great resource for Tristan since even before he started the written essay series that gives this podcast its name about seven years ago. Now, she joins the show to provide some context yet again, especially for how 1901 filmmakers weren't marching neatly toward narrative (they were tiptoeing toward it, dancing around it) and how some were specifically deconstructing the still-fledgling medium, through the lens of her five picks. Pamela is a freelance writer, critic, curator, and film historian. Among her publications are two installments in the BFI Film Classics series: Pandora's Box and The Red Shoes. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 16 Oct 2024 | 1901 E4 - Grazia Ingravalle | 01:05:57 | |
Grazia Ingravalle, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Film at Queen Mary University of London, focuses her 1901 picks in relation to colonialism. She creatively tackles the premise of this show by talking not of the “best films” of the year, but “quite the opposite,” in her own words, to illustrate the effect of the medium at this time and beyond. Grazia has published about film archives, digitization, archival remix, colonial histories, and decolonization in several edited volumes and in The Moving Image, Screen, and the JCMS. Her monograph, Archival Film Curatorship: Early and Silent Cinema from Analog to Digital (also very relevant to the “tension” of this show) came out in December 2023. She serves as Vice-President of Domitor: The International Society for the Study of Early Cinema. Note: apologies for Tristan’s audio quality. It’s cleaned up as much as possible but it was captured in an inferior state! Films mentioned:
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| 23 Oct 2024 | 1901 E5 - Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi | 01:02:37 | |
Tristan has been the grateful viewer of many an eye-popping restoration from Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam on YouTube. He expresses his thanks to Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, Curator of Silent Film at Eye, before the two mostly discuss comedy films, with the broad genre nevertheless inspiring many different tangents from sexuality to the beginning of the film industry’s self-parody. Elif has worked on the discovery, restoration, and presentation of presumed lost films starring forgotten or neglected actresses such as Rosa Porten, Little Chrysia, Valeria Creti, and Constance Talmadge. She is directly involved with the programs of international archival festivals Il Cinema Ritrovato and Le Giornate del Cinema Muto and other events dedicated to silent cinema. Elif is also one of three curators of Cinema's First Nasty Women, a DVD box set of 99 films. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901! Films mentioned:
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| 30 Oct 2024 | 1901 E6 - Lawrence Napper | 01:11:11 | |
All but one of the picks from Lawrence Napper, senior lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London, come from the huge trove of discovered Mitchell & Kenyon films. These fascinating records of everyday life in Victorian and Edwardian England and the United Kingdom lead to an array of exciting tangents, while Lawrence also uses his one fictional choice to make a resonant comparison between repeat film viewing and traditional religious ceremonies. Lawrence’s publications include The Great War in Popular British Cinema: Before Journey’s End (2015) and Silent Cinema: Before the Pictures Got Small (2017). He is a regular on the KinoQuickies podcast and occasionally blogs at https://atthepictures.photo.blog/. Currently he is developing a book length study of The Opening of the Benton New Bank Tram Route (1913). Lawrence also hosts the annual British Silent Film Festival Symposium each spring at King’s College London. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1901! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 06 Nov 2024 | 1901 E7 - Truth and Tricks | 00:06:46 | |
Propaganda, comedy, tricks; these approaches may seem to obscure truths. That is certainly their potential in film, but in this 1901 season finale, Tristan reflects on the through lines of his guests' picks and the conversations that stemmed from them. Also, he shares his personal five selections for 1901 and puts together the collective list of guest and listener submissions. That list, including all films submitted for the season, can be found at the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list. The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1902 coming soon! Thank you to the guests of the third season:
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| 20 Nov 2024 | 1902 E1 - A Trip to the "Industry?" | 00:03:22 | |
A Trip to the Moon looms large in looking at the picture of 1902 in film. Georges Méliès' masterpiece is inarguably the most famous film of the early cinema period. But as will be explored by this season's guests, its part in reshaping the aesthetics, genres, and industrialization of the global film community exists alongside another version of film history. Films mentioned: | |||
| 27 Nov 2024 | 1902 E2 - Clara Auclair | 00:56:49 | |
Film scholar and preservationist Clara Auclair and Tristan talk quite a bit about comedy and tricks, those originating from the stage and those that could only come from the magic of filmic technology. That conversation leads into discussing the phenomenon of early recreations of real events…or are they “fakes!?” Clara teaches media studies at DIS Stockholm and works as a consultant for film archives. She is a DAFIV research fellow and co-secretary of Domitor, the International Association for the Study of Early Cinema, and is currently working on an edited collection of essays dedicated to the films of Alice Guy-Blaché with former guest Aurore Spiers. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 04 Dec 2024 | 1902 E3 - Karl Wratschko | 00:52:19 | |
Karl Wratschko, curator, filmmaker, and artist, has been working as a film curator for the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna since 2016. He brings his experience of programming screenings based in specific years, not unlike this very show (he’s even done 1902 for the festival!), to craft an abridged program you might have seen in that year. Karl’s artistic work includes film, photography, installation, radio art, and public art. He was co-responsible for several retrospectives of early Austrian film at the Viennale and a member of the Austrian team of the EU-funded research and development project European Film Gateway and its successor EFG1914. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902! Films mentioned:
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| 11 Dec 2024 | 1902 E4 - Lea Stans | 00:43:31 | |
Lea Stans has been writing about the silent era on her blog Silent-ology since 2014, informed by her college interests and even younger fascinations with the obscure. Her 1902 picks reflect the increasing diversity of the worldwide filmic output of the year, from the French féerie genre to actuality chronicles of downtown Indianapolis and northern England. Lea is also a columnist for Classic Movie Hub and has written for The Keaton Chronicle and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902! Films mentioned:
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| 18 Dec 2024 | 1902 E5 - Vanessa Toulmin | 01:05:42 | |
Vanessa Toulmin, Chair in Early Film and Popular Entertainment at the University of Sheffield, is an expert on variety theater, circus, travelling exhibitions, fairgrounds, and other aspects of the history of show business. She brings this expertise to her five picks from 1902, ranging from her vast experience with the Mitchell & Kenyon films to an intriguing connection between A Trip to the Moon and an early amusement park ride. Vanessa has published 11 books including Electric Edwardians: The Films of Mitchell and Kenyon and four books on Blackpool's entertainment heritage and was the curator of the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection for the BFI and the Crazy Cinematograph project for the City of Luxembourg. She is Chair of the Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust, an independent charity which is currently restoring that unique entertainment complex in northwest England. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 26 Dec 2024 | 1902 E6 - Tamara Shvediuk and Federico Striuli | 01:03:56 | |
Tristan welcomes two guests to one episode for the first time: the husband-and-wife film historian, archivist, and curator duo of Tamara Shvediuk and Federico Striuli. The pair showcase spectacle with their five picks, from the féerie to chronicles of a significant political change. Tamara has curated film programs for several events, including the Moscow International Festival of Archival Films and the Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna. She also has collaborated with archives such as the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and the Cineteca di Bologna. Federico holds a Ph.D. in Art History with a focus on Film Studies from the University Cà Foscari, Venice. He has lectured in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Poland, and Russia, and has curated film programs for prestigious festivals, including the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1902! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 02 Jan 2025 | 1902 E7 - From the Streets to the Studio | 00:05:44 | |
It's not like the established actuality suddenly evaporated in 1902, but as guests have pointed out throughout this season, a diversification of film topics, aesthetics, and technology fostered new genres and production styles. In this season finale, Tristan briefly summarizes the common threads of his conversations and puts together the most selected 1902 films. Films mentioned:
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| 15 Jan 2025 | 1903 E1 - The Great Film Robberies | 00:04:33 | |
The law (at least in America) had a significant effect on the development of film genres, aesthetics, production, and viewing practices from 1903 on. The world over, tightly run studios were becoming more and more prevalent, shifting story films further and further into the spotlight, and dedicated filmviewing spaces were cropping up. It's difficult to define any one calendar year as fundamentally shifting the development of cinema, but as guests will demonstrate, new techniques, technologies, and industrialization make the case for an exciting year. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1903! Films mentioned: | |||
| 22 Jan 2025 | 1903 E2 - Neil Brand | 01:12:46 | |
Neil Brand has been a silent film accompanist for nearly 40 years. He shares his musical expertise, which also includes composing new scores for silent film re-releases, while exploring exciting threads of fantasy, comedy, and violence in his five picks. Neil regularly plays at the Barbican and BFI National Film Theatres in London and film festivals around the world. His scores include Blackmail (1929), Underground (1928), Easy Street (1917), Robin Hood (1922), and The Lodger (1927) and he is also a prolific writer, television presenter, and Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1903! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 29 Jan 2025 | 1903 E3 - Bruce Calvert | 00:42:14 | |
Silent film historian Bruce Calvert has been collecting silent film memorabilia for 30 years, showcased on his site The Silent Film Still Archive. He shares his story of how he came to develop this interest and addresses how supporting materials can help us understand how incomplete, missing, and even fully surviving movies were made, seen, and received. Bruce is also a moderator of the classic film discussion site NitrateVille. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1903! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 05 Feb 2025 | 1903 E4 - Jay Weissberg | 01:11:10 | |
Pordenone Silent Film Festival director Jay Weissberg has facilitated an array of programs that expand the canonical ideas about what was made in the silent era and what can be appreciated now. With his picks (which he stretches a bit past five with two more must-sees), he showcases international, amateur, and aesthetic ambitions in 1903. Jay also worked as a film critic for 18 years with Variety and contributes essays for a host of festivals, retrospective catalogues, and international publications with a particular focus on contemporary Arab cinema. Among his published works as a film historian are essays on the American films of Albert Capellani and Balzac in silent cinema. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 12 Feb 2025 | 1903 E5 - Rob Stone | 00:42:58 | |
Film archivist and historian Rob Stone has always been interested in silent film. With his five picks, he charts evolving storytelling capabilities in the medium’s earliest days and the darker side of the fading actuality, mostly as represented by one filmmaker! Rob’s publishing company Split Reel specializes in books and other media highlighting lesser-known aspects of the entertainment industry, especially the silent era. He was also Moving Image Curator at the Library of Congress for over 15 years. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1903! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 19 Feb 2025 | 1903 E6 - Colin Williamson | 00:58:37 | |
Colin Williamson, Assistant Professor in Cinema Studies at University of Oregon, has wide-ranging interests, including animation, special effects, and media archaeology. With these angles and more in mind, he brings a unique perspective and some myth busting to his standout films of 1903. Colin is the author of Hidden in Plain Sight: An Archaeology of Magic and the Cinema and the forthcoming Drawn to Nature: American Animation in the Age of Science. He is also currently Associate Editor at Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Films and resources mentioned:
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| 26 Feb 2025 | 1903 E7 - Editing and Otherwise | 00:06:49 | |
While one particular film was explored in-depth this season, every guest (whether they selected The Great Train Robbery or not) explored lesser known or at least lesser appreciated arenas of cinema in 1903. The myth busting, amateur spotlighting, and spectacle showcasing elements of this season's conversations make the case for the expansion of the art form in this calendar year, which may indeed deserve its special attention. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to view the full list of films submitted for 1903 (and beyond)! Films mentioned:
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| 12 Mar 2025 | 1904 E1 - The Story of Narrative Continues | 00:03:58 | |
While 1904 doesn't have an iconic film like the past two seasons have each featured, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its share of worthwhile films and intriguing aspects of film history to explore. From the eve of the nickelodeon boom to expanding narrative ambitions, this season will explore both returning and new threads of the cinematic discourse of the early cinema period, from its time to now. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own picks for 1904! Films mentioned: | |||
| 19 Mar 2025 | 1904 E2 - Steve Massa | 00:42:22 | |
Film historian Steve Massa is a particular expert on silent film comedy. His five choices for 1904 certainly reflect that interest, as they feature premises and gags that can still rouse surprise, chuckles, and laughs today. Steve is the author of Lames Brains and Lunatics: The Good, the Bad, and the Forgotten of Silent Comedy and its sequel as well as many other books. He also co-hosts Silent Comedy Watch Party with Ben Model, has curated comedy film programs for institutions and festivals, and has provided essays and commentary tracks for DVDs and Blu-rays. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1904! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 26 Mar 2025 | 1904 E3 - George Willeman | 00:50:07 | |
George Willeman has been the Nitrate Film Vault Leader at the Library of Congress for 41 years. Having been in love with movies as far back as he can remember, George is still constantly amazed at the discoveries found within the Library’s nitrate film collection, and his picks reflect the enthusiasm and intrigue that occur at least weekly in his role. At a young age, George got hooked on 8mm releases from the renowned Blackhawk Films company. He brought this lifelong passion to his degree in film production and began his time at the Library with a part-time job as an inspector of nitrate film cans. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1904! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 02 Apr 2025 | 1904 E4 - Dimitrios Latsis | 00:49:07 | |
Dimitrios Latsis, Associate Professor in Digital and Audiovisual Preservation at the University of Alabama, has worked extensively in the fields of American visual culture, early cinema, archival studies, and digital humanities. These interests are brought into the conversation about his five eclectic picks, in addition to some “runner-ups” that paint a fuller picture of cinema in 1904. Dimitrios is the author of How the Movies Got a Past: A Historiography of American Cinema, 1894-1930. He has also co-edited a special issue of The Moving Image, the journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists on the topic of Digital Humanities and/in Film Archives and an anthology on documentaries about the visual arts in the 1950s and 60s for Bloomsbury Academic. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1904! Films and resources mentioned:
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| 09 Apr 2025 | 1904 E5 - Martin L Johnson | 00:42:31 | |
Martin L. Johnson, film historian and Associate Professor in English and Comparative Literature at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has literally written the book on local films in the United States. While most of his picks fit into that definition, he also brings comic chases and early filmic nudity into the conversation. Martin is also co-president of Domitor, the international society for the study of early cinema. He is currently completing a monograph on the history of the advertising film and co-editing, with Liz Clarke, a forthcoming collection on silent cinema that features films that expand, complicate, and deepen our understanding of silent era film. Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1904! Films and resources mentioned:
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