Film identification is instrumental to what the presenters consider the highest expression of cinematic creativity—silent cinema. Far from being a purely academic pursuit, it is itself a cornerstone practice that offers a fresh vantage point on the medium, allowing us to rediscover works that have slipped into obscurity and to appreciate even more the visual poetry of an era defined by expression rather than dialogue.
Like any body of knowledge, film identification is shaped by a constellation of factors: the structured insights gained through film history courses and archival training, the systematic methods scholars develop for stylistic and provenance analysis, the powerful capabilities of modern technologies and, last but not least, the individual curator’s visual memory and instinct.
This process is thus not a mere mental exercise or a playful challenge. It is a transformative way of engaging with the moving image, one that restores proper titles, credits, and cultural context to lost or lesser-known films. In doing so, film identification not only resurrects individual works but also expands our collective understanding of cinema’s evolution, reinforcing the bonds within the global preservation community.
In this presentation, we will first discuss the precarious situation of silent cinema and the urgent need for accurate identification. We will then explore the full arsenal of research tools and strategies—from archive materials to online platforms—that may be employed to solve mysteries of origin and authorship. Finally, through carefully chosen case studies, we will illuminate the trials, triumphs and, sometimes, unsuccessful attempts of film identification, demonstrating how each effort—whether still unresolved or positively attributed—deepens our appreciation for cinema’s most formative era.
The Presenters
Tamara Shvediuk is a film historian, archivist, program curator, restorer, film preservation and lost films specialist. She studied “Film history and criticism” at the St. Petersburg University of Cinema and Television in 2016. From 2019 to 2025, she worked at the Gosfilmofond of Russia national film archive, serving first as senior-curator and then as deputy-director of the collections. She has curated film restoration projects and programs for several events, among which the Cinema Ritrovato film festival in Bologna (Italy), and she has collaborated with archives and institutions, such as Cineteca di Bologna, Cinémathèque royale de Belgique and San Francisco Silent Film Festival. She also authored and hosted a Youtube series on silent film identification.
Federico Striuli is a silent film historian, program curator, restorer, film preservation and lost films specialist. He earned his inter-university PhD in Art History and Film Studies at the Cà Foscari – IUAV universities of Venice in 2015, with a dissertation on pre-cinema technology. He spoke at symposia and various venues in Italy, Great Britain, Poland, Russia and has collaborated with international film festivals such as the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, for which he is currently co-curating a program on unidentified silent films.
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