Global versus Local: The Case of Pathe

A ccording to a film exhibitor writing in the newspaper Vårt land in 1908, films shown in Sweden were all made abroad. He further claims that the French films by Pathé and Gaumont were technically superior to films from other countries, but when it came to acting, the American films, especially Edison’s, excelled. This observation comes at a time when local exhibitors found it interesting to venture into film-making. Such forays were notonly potentially profitable, but tied into discourses on tourism, national culture, regionalism and the local. From 1905 on, as permanent-site film theatres began to be established in Sweden, Pathé was an equally important supplier of titles for Swedish screens as in many other countries, including the US. As elsewhere this was due to Pathé’s extensive production system with a regular pattern of release. The first initiatives to develop domestic production in Sweden came from film exhibitors who started to shoot films featuring local events and more or less prominent individuals. Amongst these are films produced in cities such as Karlstad and Kristianstad, where local material was inserted into programmes consisting mainly of French, English and American releases.