Description
How do we investigate the reception of existing film canons a century ago? For instance, which of the most prestigious silent films were shown in Hong Kong? How were these films exhibited and received locally? What role does digital scholarship play in such an investigation? Noting the inclusion and exclusion of films that were once popular (or not) into our current film canons, a list of ‘classic’ silent titles from Europe, America, and China was made to test the canon in the Hong Kong context. The list was subsequently checked by the aggregated data from the two digital archives on early Hong Kong film exhibition. The findings show that early films screened in Hong Kong did not match, to a large extent, the canonical history of either global or Chinese cinemas. The gap might be related to stars, the track records of directors and studios, the colonial distribution circuits, and choices of the exhibitors. In closing, I will consider other likely gaps in digital archives and the limitations of digital historiography.| Period | 4 Sept 2025 |
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| Event title | British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) Annual Conference 2025 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Leicester, United KingdomShow on map |