Early Cinema and the Diasporic Imagination: the Irish in America 1890-1930

Our network addresses the theme of the Irish diaspora and early cinema in the US. It proposes cross-disciplinary collaboration between GB, Irish and US based researchers to explore the role and representation of Irish immigrants within US cinema. It examines the contribution of Irish immigrants to early motion picture production, their formation as an ethnic and gendered audience and their portrayal within American silent cinema. By facilitating transatlantic collaboration between film historians and archivists, social historians and film makers, we seek to elaborate an innovative, visually led and historically informed methodology for examining the linkage of early cinema and the diasporic imagination.