A családi film genealógiája
A Genealogy of Home Movies

From Amateur Photography to Filmmaking – From Celluloid Movies to Video

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the changes of the private usage of moving images. The author argues that compared to the video practices of younger generations preferred by new media research, home movies offer a field of research where one may even study questions of media history, since the habitus of home movies has a documented, theorised history, while at the same time the change can also be sensed in the practice of contemporary movie making families: they grew up on “old media”, in contrast with the younger generation socialised on new media. This is followed by the presentation of the concepts of media genealogy: an interpretative model for grasping the processes of media history. The genealogy of the increasingly familiar (home) movie can also be relevant in theorizing the dissemination and the chameleonic aspect of media. Based on this methodology, the author analyzes the genealogy of an amateur film made in 1931 in Kolozsvár, and appoints it as an early example of the local participatory film culture. The case study also shows the importance of anthropological data in researching media history.

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