9.5mm - The First 100 Years

A scrapbook

9.5mm – the film format that was introduced by Pathé towards the end of 1922 – also became popular in Switzerland, due to the nation’s proximity to France. At the Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Berne we specialize in amateur film and its technology. The upcoming centenary therefore seemed like the perfect opportunity to initiate a celebration of the gauge and its impact on amateur film culture. We will re-investigate our collection for unseen treasures, seek out new films and sources of nine-five knowledge and share these with our audience near and far.

Starting in the summer of 2022 we will hold a series of screenings, host a symposium, present our new restorations, and showcase some of our weirdest technological devices in an exhibition.

Beginning now though, and because it needs research to do all those things, we decided to create a sort of scrap book of 9.5 curiosities that we discover as we prepare for the festivities. There will be space too for reflections on our personal encounters with the gauge. We would love our audience to also contribute to the scrapbook, thereby enlarging the scope of our research, perhaps in surprising ways. So, on this page we will present our newest findings, ask our most pressing questions but most of all, we would also like to invite you to participate in the project. We feel there is much to be discovered about what happened to 9.5 when it left the factory and sparked endless real world encounters.

Send a picture and a short text and share your most beloved piece of 9.5mm lore, treasured collectible or related experience with us and the world.

Splicers

I have been taking pictures of the different models of splicers for 9.5mm for a while now, and every time I think I have found

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Le Giornate del Cinema Muto

In less than a month the Fondation Jeròme Seydoux Pathé, the Cinémathèque Suisse and the Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Berne will be showing a selection of

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Processing a 9.5 movie collection

The Kinemathek Lichtspiel received the collection Kohler-Carrard in the year 2021. At the same time, Isabelle Hasler, student at Bern Academy of the Arts, started

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Frame enlargement

100 year old wisdom

On my visit to Switzerland in a room with a view out over a paddock – occasionally Alpacas were spotted too – I found a

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Carnival / Fasnacht in Basel

In some parts of Switzerland February and March are very popular months. Basel and Lucerne for example feature big carnival processions. Whether some procession will

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Bigger than 9.5

Paul Goy, the last president of the Bernese 9.5mm club, told me one day that there was a Super 9.5mm format back in the 1990ties.

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In the dead of the night

On the phone my daughter Ronja. Out there, where we usually deposit the trash, there are two wooden boxes. A big one and a smaller,

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The 9.5mm slitter

Hi my Lichtspiel friends, From my collection in the UK I would like to offer you this slitter for making two strips of 9.5mm film

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Gladiateur combatant

Because this is also personal, I will start with my winter swimming excursions – in particular one from last November. The Lichtspiel did a so

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My own first encounter

My own first encounter with 9.5mm was at the AMIA conference in Los Angeles in the year 2000: the late William O’Farrell improvised a song

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