Close Up (Jan-Jun 1930)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jan-Jun 1930
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
00099
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Switzerland, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
As an active film magazine, CLOSE UP lasted only a short time, from 1927 to 1933. Yet the legacy of this English-language periodical, which was published in Switzerland, continues to matter. Edited by Bryher and her husband Kenneth Macpherson, CLOSE UP became THE magazine for energetic debates about the nature of cinema and manifestos imagining new forms of filmmaking and spectatorship. The magazine published articles by filmmakers, such as Sergei Eisenstein, and female literary modernists, such as H.D. and Gertrude Stein. As film scholar Anne Friedberg explains in the anthology CLOSE-UP, 1927-1933: CINEMA & MODERNISM, 'CLOSE UP became the model for a certain type of writing about film -- writing that was theoretically astute, politically incisive, critical of films that were simply 'entertainment.' For six and a half years, CLOSE UP maintained a forum for a broad variety of ideas about the cinema; it never advocated a single direction of development, but rather posed alternatives to existing modes of production, consumption, and film style.' Like Friedberg's own writing, CLOSE UP continues to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of film and media theory. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
November 03, 2022
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CLOSE UP performances. If a private Society in London wants to show an uncensored film to its own members in an ordinary licensed Cinema or Hall, it must obtain the sanction of the London County Council. If the film were to be exhibited without or against this sanction the license of the Cinema would be endangered. If a private film Society in London wants to show a programme of censored films in a Cinema on a Sunday afternoon (which is invariably the only time available) it cannot do so without the sanction of the L.C.C. I The London Society duly made application to the L.C.C. for the necessary permit, and was met with a refusal ! Xo reasons were given. The existing Film Society has a permit to exhibit uncensored films and to give Sunday afternoon performances, but apparently a workers' society must not have the same privileges. The Federation urgently needs finance to develop its work. In the early stages some assistance must be given by the Federation to the local Societies, particularly in many of the industrial areas where economic standards are low. The offices of the Federation at 5, Denmark Street, London, \V.C.2 will gladly welcome donations from friends anxious to help in its work. While, for the time being, the work of the Federation and its affiliated Societies will be mainly in the field of exhibition, it is firmly intended to undertake the production of suitable films in Britain at a later stage. The possibilities, and the material, for production work bv a workers' film movement are immense. R. Bond. 69