Martin Loiperdinger – författare

Invented in the 1890s and premiered in Paris by the Lumière brothers, the cinematograph along with Louis Le Prince's single-lens camera projector are considered by film historians to be the precursors to modern-day motion picture devices. These early movies were often shown in town halls, on fairgrounds, and in theaters, requiring special showmanship skills to effectively work the equipment and entertain onlookers. Within the last decade, film archives and film festivals have unearthed this lost art and have featured outstanding examples of the culture of early cinema reconfigured for today's audiences.

Danish silent film actress Asta Nielsen became a brand name in movie houses around the globe in the early 1900s. Known simply as "The Asta," she exhibited both a subtle eroticism and a naturalistic style in her performances, which propelled her into international stardom. Nielsen's worldwide fame was made possible by film distributors adept at contracting long runs for films in cinemas around the world. This volume examines the role of these newly developed film distribution strategies and the resulting emergence of the international film star.