Krunisanje kralja Petra I Karađorđevića i Putovanje kroz Srbiju, Novi Pazar, Crnu Goru i Dalmaciju / Coronation of King Peter I Karadjordjevic and Journey through Serbia, Novi Pazar, Montenegro and Dalmatia

Frank Mottershaw: Krunisanje Kralja Petra I Karađorđevića / The Coronation of King Peter I Karadjordjevic of Serbia (1904). Photo: IMDb.

KRUNISSANJE KRALJAA PETRA I KARADJORDJEVICA I PUTOVAWE KROZ SRBIJU, NOVI PAZAR, CRNU GORU I DALMACIJU / THE CORONATION OF KING PETER I OF SERBIA AND A RIDE THROUGH SERBIA, NOVI-BAZAAR, MONTENEGRO AND DALMATIA / [INCORONAZIONE DI RE PIETRO PRIMO DI SERBIA ED IL VIAGGIO ATTRAVERSO LA SERBIA, NOVI-BAZAAR, IL MONTENEGRO E LA DALMAZIA]
Krunisanje kralja Petra I Karađorđevića i Putovanje kroz Srbiju, Novi Pazar, Crnu Goru i Dalmaciju / Coronation of King Peter I Karadjordjevic and Journey through Serbia, Novi Pazar, Montenegro and Dalmatia
Krunisanje kralja Petra I / The Coronation of King Peter I of Serbia
Krunisanje Kralja Petra I Karadjordjevica [IMDb]
GB 1904
    Prod: Arnold Muir Willson; ph: Frank Mottershaw, Jr.; 35 mm, 1480 m, 54’ (25 fps), virato / toned, Jugoslovenska Kinoteka.
    Serbian & English intertitles.
    Grand piano: Antonio Coppola.
    Viewed at Teatro Zancanaro, Sacile, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM): Fuori quadro, 14 Oct 2004.

Dejan Kosanovic (GCM): "This is the oldest preserved film shot in the territory of former Yugoslavia (now Serbia). In June 1903 (actually 29 May at the time, as Serbia was still following the old Julian Calendar), King Alexander Obrenovich and his wife Queen Draga were assassinated in Belgrade.  The throne passed to the Karageorgevich dynasty, and the new king, Peter 1st Karageorgevich, was crowned in September 1904, more than a year after the coup d’état. Belgrade invited foreign guests to the coronation, but no European court (except Montenegro) sent representatives, as Serbia was under sanctions because of the 1903 killing of the royal family. But the coronation festivities in Belgrade were attended by delegations from all parts of the Kingdom of Serbia, as well as many private guests from abroad."

"Among the guests was an eminent lawyer from Sheffield, England, Mr. Arnold Muir Willson, who was also the Honorary Consul to the Kingdom of Serbia. Beside being a lawyer, Willson was a traveller, journalist, and photographer.  He hired cameraman Frank Storm Mottershaw, Jr. of the Sheffield Photo Company, a very active film production company at this period. They attended the coronation together, and realized a documentary film about the event. After Belgrade, they visited and filmed some other places in Serbia: the small town of Kraljevo, the medieval monasteries of Zica (Zhicha) and Studenica (Studenitza), and then, on their way home, Novi Bazar (under Turkish rule at the time), Andrijevica and Cetinje in Montenegro, and Sibenik (Sebenico) and Zadar (Zara) in Dalmatia.  Willson screened this film several times in Britain to illustrate his lectures on Serbia.  In the spring of 1905 he screened the film at the Serbian National Theatre in Belgrade in the presence of the king and the royal family."

"The print of this film was found in England and purchased before World War II by a collector from Belgrade, Mr. Jovanovic-Marambo. It has been in the collection of the Yugoslav Film Archive (Jugoslovenska Kinoteka) in Belgrade since 1949, the year of its founding. Some parts of the film were copied 5 decades ago, and they have occasionally been screened or broadcast, but the whole film has never been completely reconstructed until this year. The new print, including new intertitles, was made in Bologna at the Immagine Ritrovata lab." – Dejan Kosanovic (GCM)

AA: Epic themes today: The Birth of a Nation preceded by the first surviving film shot in Jugoslavia, Karageorgevich. A good-looking print, well restored from sources in bad shape. Endless processions. A very moving experience nonetheless, documentation from the powder keg from which a world fire was ignited.