Cinema Histories is an online hub that federates historical cinema data from multiple projects. It offers the opportunity to SEARCH and COMPARE datasets on film exhibition and programming in order to investigate cinema cultures across the world. It provides a convenient place for searching, viewing, analysing, mapping, and downloading source data from while preserving the authenticity of each individual data source or project. By bringing together data from various projects, we create a critical mass of FAIR data for the research community to benefit from, allowing new research in cinema studies and cultural history. Additionally, each project participating in Cinema Histories will have a dedicated branded microsite, where you can find more information on the types of data included and search its data. If the project already has a website, the data can still be included and CH will direct users to the project’s website.

Cinema Histories is open to new projects to CONTRIBUTE with their data on cinema exhibition, and programming across different geographical areas and periods of time. To encourage contributions, Cinema Histories offers a one-time FUNDING opportunity to launch the platform.

Any data that describes the characteristics of cinema venues, and their programmes; any geographical location or historical time period; any size (number of records) can be included in Cinema Histories.

The new data will be uploaded to Cinema Histories through a spreadsheet template and the data will be accessible with no time limit, no long-term hosting or maintenance costs. There is a cost for the initial upload of the project. However, we have funding for 8 projects interested in sharing their data on CH. Please apply by emailing: dtreveri-gennari@brookes.ac.uk, pier.ercole@dmu.ac.uk, lies.vandevijver@luca-arts.be

How to apply (deadline: 30th of May):

Send a short description (300 to 500 words) of your project and the type of data collected.
Explain why you want to share your project within the CH research hub

The Cinema Histories platform was developed by the European Cinema Audiences project in collaboration with the Digital Humanities Institute at the University of Sheffield.