Mapping Film Programming acrosse Post-War Europe

Abstract

This data paper and the data collection from which it emerges aim to present a fully harmonized data set originating in several research projects on post-war cinema programming. The paper will reflect on the collection and structure of this aggregated data set, that consists of titles of feature films screened for public viewing in cinemas in the cities Bari (Italy), Antwerp and Ghent (Belgium), Gothenburg (Sweden), Leicester (United Kingdom) and Rotterdam (Netherlands) for the year 1952. As comparisons of movie-going patterns between European countries are still rare, this paper offers a model for constructing a data set which can be replicated, scaled up and used to compare, contextualize, and eventually theorize practices of cinema-going across countries at a global level. Keywords: film programming; cinema; mid-sized city; Europe; comparative history