Early years of cinema in Jerusalem discussed at Entangled Histories Seminar

The twelfth session of the “Entangled Histories: Borders and Cultural Encounters from the Medieval to the Contemporary Era” seminar series, organized in cooperation with Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication and Insubria University, was held. Res. Asst. Muhammed Enes Akdağ from the Department of New Media and Communication (English) attended the online seminar.  Akdağ discussed early film screenings in Jerusalem during the Ottoman period and cinema's relationship with urban life.

In the online seminar conducted under the leadership of Asst. Prof. Maria Pia Ester Cristaldi, a faculty member at Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism, Res. Asst. Muhammed Enes Akdağ from the Department of New Media and Communication (English) addressed established assumptions regarding the history of Palestinian cinema. 

The history of Palestinian Cinema was discussed

Res. Asst. Muhammed Enes Akdağ from Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication, Department of New Media and Communication (English) emphasized in his presentation that starting the history of Palestinian cinema generally with the British Mandate period in the 1930s rendered invisible the film distribution and screening infrastructures established during the late Ottoman period. 

The socio-spatial geography of early cinema screenings was examined

Akdağ focused on the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, which had a special administrative status between 1874–1917, and explained the socio-spatial geography of early cinema screenings.

The presentation stated that itinerant film screenings, initially held in coffee houses, hotels, and public squares, eventually transformed into permanent cinema halls; and that different communities gathered in these venues to experience new forms of modern urban sociality.

An important node…

The seminar offered a new perspective on cinema history by treating Jerusalem as an important node in transnational film screening networks extending across empires and geographies.

The widely attended seminar series will continue with public participation until the summer months. 

NEWS ÜSKÜDAR