Overview

This anthology offers the first systematic exploration of 9.5mm amateur film culture, practice and consumption, from its launch in 1922 to the present day. It breathes new life into our understanding of participatory media and its origins in the early twentieth century, revealing how a web of experiences gave rise to a vibrant ecosystem of collaborative storytelling and grassroots cultural movements that continue to shape our understanding of media participation. The collection brings together the work of emerging specialists, early-career researchers, and respected scholars from anthropology, film, media studies and international film archival networks. The 16 chapters in this volume offer fresh insights into early participatory media culture and confirm the ongoing influence and impact of 9.5mm film on global media studies. The interdisciplinary approach and wide‑reaching perspectives make it a valuable resource for cinema and media curricula, film archival projects, cultural and media anthropology, visual sociology, as well as gender, memory and migration studies.

Full Product Details

9781032970943

Table of Contents

Reviews

“A must-read for film scholars, archivists, and curators interested in 9.5mm film as a groundbreaking amateur gauge and its diverse histories of use. This volume offers a timely and comprehensive study of a technologically and historically significant participatory medium, shedding unique light on the roots of today’s digital media culture.” Dr Tim van der Heijden, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, Open University of the Netherlands ""It is wonderful to see this great variety of contributions about the famous 9.5mm film format, collected in one volume. 9.5mm stimulated not just one specific small gauge culture but found various shapes and forms in different countries and eras. The editors greatly assembled the existing scholarship, also proving along the way that amateur media scholarship keeps on growing."" Professor Susan Aasman, Professor of Digital Humanities, University of Groningen. “This anthology offers a groundbreaking exploration of the 9.5mm amateur film culture, tracing its evolution from 1922 to the present, and highlights the Pathé Baby's original significance in the growing interest in small gauges formats. Owing to its interdisciplinary insights, the volume emphasises the significance of participatory media before the digital age. An essential read for media scholars.” Dr Mirco Santi, President INEDITS European Association, and Co-Founder of Fondazione Home Movies-Archivio Nazionale del Film di Famiglia (Bologna, Italy)

Author Information

Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes is based at the University of Cambridge as a visual theorist, academic supervisor at the Department of Social Anthropology, Fellow of Clare Hall, and a member of the Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement. Her ongoing research and publications address questions of visual literacy and trauma, amateur media, and the anthropology of memory and migration. Zoë Viney Burgess completed her PhD in film at the University of Southampton (2024). She works simultaneously as a film curator at Wessex Film and Sound Archive, Winchester (UK), and as a senior research fellow in Screen Archives at the University of West London’s Public Research Institute of Screen and Music (PRISM).

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