The Weavers (1905 film)

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15-second clip showing the 114-year-old Despina Manaki spinning.

The Weavers [1] or Grandmother Despina is a short silent, black and white documentary film made in 1905 by the Balkan film pioneers the Manaki brothers in the small Aromanian village of Avdella (Aromanian : Avdhela), in the Ottoman vilayet of Monastir presently modern Greece. It is about 60 seconds long and depicts the Manakis' aunts and 114-year-old grandmother Despina spinning and weaving. [2] [3] [4] It was originally called "Our 114-year-old grandmother at work weaving", but has come to be known as The Weavers. [5]

Contents

It is believed to be the first film shot anywhere in the Ottoman Balkans. [6]

Despina, born in 1791, is believed to be the earliest-born person recorded on film [7]

The film was shot with 35 mm film with an Urban Bioscope movie camera (serial number 300) imported from London. [6]

Appropriation

An extract from the film appears at the beginning of Theo Angelopoulos's 1995 film Ulysses' Gaze .

References

  1. ↑ Cinema and Classical Texts: Apollo's New Light, Martin M. Winkler, Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN   0521518601, p. 71.
  2. ↑ Zacharia, p. 323
  3. ↑ Balkan border crossings: First annual of the Konitsa Summer School, Vasilēs G. Nitsiakos, LIT Verlag Münster, 2008, ISBN   3825809188, pp. 41–42.
  4. ↑ Hellenisms: culture, identity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity, Katerina Zacharia, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008, ISBN   0754665259, p. 323.
  5. ↑ Filmland Griechenland – Terra incognita: griechische, Elene Psoma, Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH, 2008, ISBN   3832516182, S. 23. (Ger.)
  6. 1 2 Vecer Online – One century of the Macedonian seventh art. (Mk.)
  7. ↑ The “oldest” person caught on film was born in the 18th century: Despa of Avdela

Bibliography

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