Rui’s Renditions
Imperial German propaganda film crew, circa 1917/18. Location unknown.
During the Great War, alongside photography, a new technology made its appearance as a propaganda tool: film.
Both sides made use of it, and propaganda movies such as the 1916’s British-made ‘The Battle of the Somme’ were seen by millions.
In Germany, in an effort to keep up with the Allies and coordinate its national production of visual propaganda, the Supreme Army Command founded the Bild und Filmamt (BUFA) in January 1917.
BUFA’s first major production, “Bei unseren Helden an der Somme” (“With our heroes at the Somme”), premiered in January 1917 as a counterpart to the British film but was technically inferior in many aspects, and so it failed to achieve the same success.
The camera seems to be an Ernemann-Aufnahme-Kino Model A or a similar model.
Original: Bundesarchiv (Bild. 183-1983-0323-501)