Peter Elfelt
Peter Elfelt | |
---|---|
Elsinore, Denmark | |
Died | 18 February 1931 Copenhagen, Denmark | (aged 65)
Resting place | Assistens Cemetery, Copenhagen |
Occupation(s) | Photographer Film director |
Years active | 1893–1907 |
Peter Elfelt (1 January 1866 – 18 February 1931) was a Danish photographer and film director known as the first movie pioneer in Denmark when he began making documentary films in 1897.
Biography
Peter Elfelt was born Peter Lars Petersen in Denmark on 1 January 1866. (He changed his name to Elfelt when he began making films.)[1] He apprenticed in photography in Hillerød in 1893 with the photographer Carl Rathsack. He also studied with the camera builder Jens Poul Andersen. In 1893, Elfelt opened his own atelier in Copenhagen with his two brothers as his assistants. As his photographic skills became appreciated, his business flourished and by 1901 Elfelt was named "Kongelige Hoffotograf" (Royal Court Photographer).[2]
During a trip to Paris in 1896, Elfelt obtained a set of detailed Cinematographe plans from the French inventor Jules Carpentier. He had a film camera constructed by Jens Poul Andersen. In the beginning of 1897, he shot the first Danish film – a one-minute sequence called Driving with Greenland Dogs (Danish: Kørsel med grønlandske hunde).[3] During the following 15 years, he made short nature films and newsreels about the Danish royal family. Elfelt shot almost 200 short films in all.[4]
In 1903 Elfelt filmed his only drama. The short film, titled For one to think of showing this murder in living pictures – a horrible idea. I was absolutely not taken by it.
Elfelt also shot the first advertising film. There is a 1904 example that advertises
Filmography
- Kørsel med Grønlandske Hunde(1897)
- Kongelige skal fotograferes (1899)
- Kejserinde Dagmars Ankomst til Helsingør (1900)
- Czar Nikolai II's Ankomst til Helsingør (1901)
- Dronning Alexandras Ankomst til Toldboden (1902)
- Kejserinde Dagmars Ankomst til Bellevue (1902)
- Kong Christian IX modtager Storhertug Friedrich-Franz af Mecklenburg Schwerin (1903)
- Sylfiden (1903)
- Tarantellen af Napoli (1903)
- Kongejagt paa Hveen (1903)
- Prinsesse Marie til Hest (1903)
- De Kongelige paa Cykler i Fredensborg Slotsgaard (1903)
- Henrettelsen(1903)
- Kejser Wilhelms Ankomst til København (1903)
- Ribe Domkirkes indvielse (1904)
- Daniel Dalsgaards Kaffeforretning (1904)
- Zigeunerdans af Troubaduren (1906)
- Skiløb. Holmenkollen (1906)
- Kong Haakons Besøg paa "Herluf Trolle" (1906)
- Orfeus og Eurydike (1906)
- Livjægerne paa Amager (1906)
- Kong Frederik VIII's Proklamation (1906)
- Islands Altings Besøg i København (1906)
- Kong Frederik VIII's Ankomst til Berlin (1907)
See also
References
- ^ Fru Anna Larssen I Sit Paaklædningsværelse, København Avis, January 1901, retrieved 27 May 2008 from Stumfilm Website
- ^ "Peter Elfelt". Danish Film Institute. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-7899-0. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-2035-7. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
- ^ Tybjerg, Casper, 100 Års Dansk Film, Rosinante, 2001, pg 18
- ^ McKernan, Luke, "Peter Elfelt". Who's Who of Victorian Cinema: A Worldwide Survey, BFI Publishing, 1996.
- ^ Ole Brage (ed.), Danmarks Radio Praesenterer Elfelt Film (Copenhagen: Danmarks Radio, 1975)
- ^ Marguerite Engberg, Dansk Stumfilm I (Copenhagen: Rhodos Forlag, 1977)
- ^ "Peter Elfelt". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish). 9 August 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
External links
- Peter Elfelt at IMDb
- Peter Elfelt in the Danish Film Database
- Peter Elfelt in Who's Who of Victorian Cinema
- Peter Elfelt Films on European Film Gateway