The Dynamics of Celluloid on the Road to Independence: Unilever and Shell in Nigeria

This research looks at the films from two companies both dealing with oil, one petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, the other vegetable, Unilever’s subsidiary UAC, just before and after the Nigerian independence. Concentrating on films (that also deal with products other than oil) from this period enables us to consider a set of representations that reflect the ideas of the company on a local and international scale as films were used to promote their reputation and legitimise their work. Modernity, scientific innovation, and technology were often used in terms of visual aesthetics, shaping a collective imagination of the industry, the country in which it resided and the people who were its employees. By researching these films we can develop a better understanding of branding strategies, especially within a (post) colonial setting, give new insights into global and local market perspectives, create a new view on the transnational dynamics of a modern media, and deepen our awareness of non-fiction industrial film. As films communicate a brand identity and its accompanying values to consumers and audiences, researching their multiple forms and uses from a historical and cross-cultural perspective, as well as from a corporate viewpoint, deepens our understanding of the important international, national and local circulation and influence of multimedia practices

De serial in Nederland: 1915-1925. De unieke opkomst en ondergang van een aangepaste filmvorm

Halverwege de jaren tien van de vorige eeuw kende de serial een duidelijke opleving in de bioscoop. Na één decennium was de belangstelling voor de seriefilm echter alweer verdwenen, om pas in de tweede helft van die eeuw terug te keren. Hier staan de jaren 1915-1925 centraal. Wat werd er door wie vertoond en waarom was dit al dan niet een succes. Wie hadden daar belangen bij, welke invloeden speelden een rol en hoe vrij waren de bioscopen in hun keuzen? Een tijdsbeeld van de cliffhanger — die afhaakte.----Serials in the Netherlands: 1915-1925. The unique rise and downfall of an adjusted film formIn the Netherlands there was a peculiar difference in the screening of film serials in the teens and twenties of the twentieth century. Instead of the usual (as seen in America, France, Germany and England) one episode per filmprogram, in the Netherlands a film program was almost entirely filled with several episodes of one serial. This difference concerned all American serials that were distributed from 1916 and on. These episodes were screened back-to-back and were not put together as one complete episode. Episodes of European serials were usually not screened back-to-back. The difference in the Dutch distribution of serials might have been caused by some unsuccessful screenings of long features that were shown around 1912 in weekly episodes. Possibly that because of this, Dutch distribution companies decided in 1916 to show this 'new kind of serial' at a much quicker rate. Another cause could have been that during the First World War, films were getting more expensive. Around 1921 the interest of the public began to wane. Because the serial was treated as a feature and not as a filler of the filmprogram, this disinterest quickly meant the end of the serial. By 1925 almost no serials were shown in the Netherlands