La cinématographie-attraction à Montréal à la lumière de la législation (1896-1913)
Cinématographie-attraction / kine-attractography has for a long time been associated with the origins of cinema. But in 1978, an academic controversy created a rift in cinematic historiography and these works were subsequently deemed to be a separate object of study, one distinct from institutional cinema. This thesis will focus on kine-attractography in the setting of Montreal from the use of the Lumière Cinematograph projector in 1896 to the founding of the Quebec Board of Censorship in 1913. The legislative context surrounding these new forms of ‘amusement’ will be discussed (bills were modified or created to address legal questions). This thesis will investigate these events within the relevant historical, geographical and cinematographic contexts. It will then consider three aspects of kine-attractography that differ from those in cinema: manufacturing (which includes the way cinematic works were financed, shot and later modified), exhibition (the matter of where and how these works were shown) and reception (the ways these works were evaluated or judged). We will discuss how kine-attractography was initially overseen by diverse groups of people (from those who financed or shot the moving pictures, to the owners of ‘amusement’ theatres, to the policeman or fireman who was present at each projection), and then subsequently overseen by recognized institutions, government representatives included. We will explore the issues which accompanied its institutionalisation relative to these various groups by studying articles and ads in Montreal’s newspapers, legal texts, official pronouncements, diocese speeches, catalogues published by manufacturing companies, and the moving pictures themselves.
cinématographie-attraction attractions exhibition catalogues licences kine-attractography early cinema institutionalization moving pictures amusement manufacturing exhibition reception legislation film lecturer the Sunday law consumption