G4 Monograph dissertation
Biografiliiketoiminnan valtakausi. Toimijuus ja kilpailu suomalaisella elokuva-alalla 1900-1920-luvuilla
Authors: Hupaniitty Outi
Publisher: Turun yliopisto
Publishing place: Turku
Publication year: 2013
Series title: Annales Universitatis Turkuensis - Scripta Lingua Fennica Edita
Number in series: C 367
ISBN: 978-951-29-5476-6
ISSN: 0082-6995
Abstract
The Finnish word elokuva was created in 1927 to replace the terms filmi (film), biografi (movie theater) and kinematografi (cinematography). The emergence of the word elokuva and the disappearance of earlier terms changed the way the field of cinema was perceived. Instead of several terms with different implications, a single word covered them all.
This research looks behind the perceptions born in the 1920s. It centers in on the reign of the biografi business, the business model based upon the import, distribution, and exhibition of films, from the beginning of the 1900s to the latter half of the 1920s. The author starts with the itinerant showmen and end in the spring of 1926, when the leading companies’ extensive mergers and acquisitions reorganized the field of cinema. Instead of using the term elokuva, the author uses the old terms filmi, biografi and kinematografi, as they more accurately convey the meanings of the time. Biografis take center stage because managing movie theaters was the foundation of the business.
The main research question is, how did operators constitute the Finnish film industry during the reign of the biografi business from the 1900s though to the 1920s. The author emphasizes the most prominent operators, whose business spanned further than a single theatre. She also analyses the government’s relationship with cinema, through legislation and taxation. Operators also actively worked to influence the government’s plans and forms of action.
Summary in English - Sammanfattning på svenska
The Finnish word elokuva was created in 1927 to replace the terms filmi (film), biografi (movie theater) and kinematografi (cinematography). The emergence of the word elokuva and the disappearance of earlier terms changed the way the field of cinema was perceived. Instead of several terms with different implications, a single word covered them all.
This research looks behind the perceptions born in the 1920s. It centers in on the reign of the biografi business, the business model based upon the import, distribution, and exhibition of films, from the beginning of the 1900s to the latter half of the 1920s. The author starts with the itinerant showmen and end in the spring of 1926, when the leading companies’ extensive mergers and acquisitions reorganized the field of cinema. Instead of using the term elokuva, the author uses the old terms filmi, biografi and kinematografi, as they more accurately convey the meanings of the time. Biografis take center stage because managing movie theaters was the foundation of the business.
The main research question is, how did operators constitute the Finnish film industry during the reign of the biografi business from the 1900s though to the 1920s. The author emphasizes the most prominent operators, whose business spanned further than a single theatre. She also analyses the government’s relationship with cinema, through legislation and taxation. Operators also actively worked to influence the government’s plans and forms of action.
Summary in English - Sammanfattning på svenska
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