(Con)sequential Images – An archaeology of iconic film footage from the Nazi era

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Christoph Wahl
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 455591769

“(Con)sequential images” is a play on words that refers on the one hand to film sequences created from a series of individual images that appear to move (“moving images”). At the same time, it refers to images that move in a different way, namely as citations throughout film and media history. Through their interaction with aesthetic trends and developments in commemorative cultures, these images undergo a process of iconographic transformation. With this process comes the ongoing re-contextualization, re-appraisal and overlapping of the images, resulting in the consolidation, diversification or devaluation of their significance. This research project focuses on iconic film sequences from the Nazi era with the aim of reconstructing and analyzing both their material history as well as the history of their use and re-use through the aid of archeological methods. From the empirical data gathered in the course of the research, valuable conclusions can be drawn about the function and status of audiovisual media within societal memory. The project has seven clearly defined, mutually dependent goals. These goals can be considered original to the extent that they plug a research gap and refine currently underdeveloped methods. The project goals draw on fundamental research as well as innovative methods and approaches, and focus not least on questions concerning the interaction of academia and the general public. The envisaged objectives of the project include: (1) a relational database of the filmic icons of the Nazi era, (2) the material history of these filmic icons as well as (3) the history of their use and re-use – (4) aided by forensic image analysis – (5) within a transnational framework, (6) additional critical treatment and questioning of the iconic film sequences with the aid of video essays as a form of research-based filmmaking further developed into a scientific methodology, (7) consideration for the transfer of the research findings into educational activities already during the research stage, including the preparation of possible “critical editions” of the films studied. In order to achieve these goals successfully, it is necessary for a small team of handpicked scholars and young researchers from different fields to work together closely for a projected period of eight years. Our interdisciplinary approach including Film Studies, Filmmaking, Archival Science, Contemporary History, Art History, Memory Studies, History Didactics/Film Education and Digital Humanities will be discussed with competent guests in a series of workshops especially designed for this purpose. The second phase of the project focuses on applying the procedures tested in the first phase on individual core materials to the complete corpus. On a now broad data basis, research questions are specified, findings are synthesized, and results are contextualized.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel
• International Co-Applicant: Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann