Peter Elfelt

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Peter Elfelt


Born 1 January 1866
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died 18 February 1931
Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupation Photographer
Film director
Years active 18931907

Peter Elfelt (18661931) was a Danish photographer and film director known as the first film pioneer in Denmark when he began making documentary movies in 1897.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Peter Elfelt was born Peter Lars Petersen in Denmark on January 1, 1866. (He changed his name to Elfelt when he began making films.)[1] He apprenticed in photography in Hillerød in 1893 with the photographer Carl Rathsack. He also studied with the camera builder Jens Poul Andersen. In 1893, Elfelt opened his own atelier in Copenhagen with his two brothers as his assistants. As his photographic skills became appreciated, his business flourished and by 1901 Elfelt was named "Kongelige Hoffotgraf" (Royal Court Photographer).[2]

During a trip to Paris in 1896, Elfelt obtained a set of detailed Cinematographe plans from the french inventor Jules Carpentier He had a film camera constructed by Jens Poul Andersen. In the beginning of 1897, he shot the first Danish film — a one minute sequence called Kørsel med Grønlandske Hunde (Traveling with Greenlandic Dogs). During the following 15 years, he made short nature films and news reels about the Danish royal family. Elfelt shot almost 200 short films in all.

In 1903 Elfelt made his only dramatic feature. The short film, titled Henrettelsen (Capital Execution), was the the first feature film made in Denmark. Based upon the actual execution of a french woman who murdered her 10 children, it starred the singer Francesca Nathansen and was filmed in the arcade of the Christiansborg Castle. Elfelt also shot the first advertising film. There is a 1904 example which advertises Bock beer for the Svenborg Brewery. Elfelt opened the "Købehavn Kinoptikon" movie theater in 1901. Although Elfelt was Denmark's first pioneer of filmmaking, he considered film as secondary to his work as a photographer.[3] Elfelt died on February 18, 1931.

[edit] Fimography

  • Kørsel med Grønlandske Hunde (1897)
  • Kongelige skal fotograferes (1899)
  • Kejserinde Dagmars Ankomst til Helsingør (1900)
  • Czar Nikolai II's Ankomst til Helsingør (1901)
  • Dronning Alexandras Ankomst til Toldboden (1902)
  • Kejserinde Dagmars Ankomst til Bellevue (1902)
  • Kong Christian IX modtager Storhertug Friedrich-Franz af Mecklenburg Schwerin (1903)
  • Sylfiden (1903)
  • Tarantellen af Napoli (1903)
  • Kongejagt paa Hveen (1903)
  • Prinsesse Marie til Hest (1903)
  • De Kongelige paa Cykler i Fredensborg Slotsgaard (1903)
  • Henrettelsen (1903)
  • Kejser Wilhelms Ankomst til København (1903)
  • Ribe Domkirkes indvielse (1904)
  • Daniel Dalsgaards Kaffeforretning (1904)
  • Zigeunerdans af Troubaduren (1906)
  • Skiløb. Holmenkollen (1906)
  • Kong Haakons Besøg paa "Herluf Trolle" (1906)
  • Orfeus og Eurydike (1906)
  • Livjægerne paa Amager (1906)
  • Kong Frederik VIII's Proklamation (1906)
  • Islands Altings Besøg i København (1906)
  • Kong Frederik VIII's Ankomst til Berlin (1907)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fru Anna Larssen I Sit Paaklædningsværelse, København Avis, January 1901, retrieved 2008-05-27 from Stumfilm Website
  2. ^ Peter Elfelt. Danish Film Institute.
  3. ^ Peter Elfelt. Who's Who of Victorian Cinema.

[edit] External Links



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