Sample Solution

When film became a technological reality in the late nineteenth century, its future shape and role was far from obvious. Discussions regarding the theoretical nature, the aesthetic function and the social role of cinema began as soon as commentators took note of the medium, but conceptualizations remained fluid for the first decades. It was not until the 1920s that knowledge about film and cinema was systematically, consistently and reflexively articulated, gathered and disseminated on a broader basis. Over the course of two decades, the 1920s and 1930s, institutions, practices and arguments arose which have been crucial for any serious engagement with cinema ever since. There are many aspects that can be said to have aided this ‘emergence of film culture’ in the interwar period: the beginnings of film festivals; the formation of canons; the point at which film became recognized as a subject of study at institutions of higher education; the consolidation of film criticism and archiving as serious occupations; and the recognition accorded to the relevance of film history and film theory.