Silent Film in Interwar Cluj: Cinemas, Advertising Strategies, Sociocultural Campaigns
Silent Film in Interwar Cluj: Cinemas, Advertising Strategies, Sociocultural Campaigns

Summary/Abstract: The Janovics filmmaking legacy is embedded in the cultural history of Kolozsvár. Located in the province of Transylvania the city was, under Austro-Hugarian rule, the site of a prodigious silent cinema production under the supervision of Jenő Janovics. Following World War I, Kolozsvár became part of the Kingdom of Romania as Cluj. The paper documents the status of silent film in Cluj from 1920, when cinema schedules started being printed in the local Romanian newspapers, up until 1929, the last year of exclusive silent film screenings in the city, from three complementary perspectives. Firstly, several new film venues opened, but functioned under the monopoly of a Bucharest based distribution company. Secondly, innovative advertising campaings that promoted cinemas and films echoed those of international distributors. Thirdly, silent film was used as catalyst in sociocultural campaigns supported by world famous scientists and members of the academia. This case study displaces the canonical focus from European capitals to a provincial city with a pre-war filmmaking history that paved the way to a vibrant presence of silent cinema in the everyday life of the Cluj interwar society.

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