Tracing European cinema cities: Babelsberg, Pinewood and Cinecittà between 1930-1950

Date

2025-9-26

Author

Azkar, İlkmen Verda

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This thesis focuses on the history and architecture of European film studio complexes between 1930 and 1950 by examining three major European studio complexes built before the Second World War: Studio Babelsberg in Germany, Pinewood Studios in the UK, and Cinecitta in Italy as case studies. Although film studio spaces have the potential to offer further insight into the history of architecture, politics, and technology, existing studies on the history of studios have mostly focused on the films produced in these places, overlooking the architecture of the studios. Analyzing these film studio spaces through Foucault’s heterotopia, this thesis argues that with their architectural layout and wide range of facilities, these film studio complexes acted as isolated, almost self-sufficient cinema cities within cities. This, in turn, made them ideal spaces to repurpose in times of crisis like the Second World War when studios were utilized for non-film-related activities, including storage, production of military equipment or refugee camps, and film technicians and production crews were commissioned to use their skills in wartime efforts. Consequently, these adjustments extended the function of the studios, and they became not only sites of artistic production but also critical components of the war, which reflects broader socio-political contexts. Analyzing these dynamics, this research aims to highlight the intersection of architecture, cinema, and politics within the layered history of film studios.

Subject Keywords

European Film Studios, Film and Architecture, Heterotopia, Modernity, Second World War

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116124

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis