Iluminace 2025, 37(2):177-196 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1809

The 9.5 mm Film Format as a Commercial Product. The History of the Cinéma Company in the Context of Czech Amateur Filmmaking Between 1932 and 1952

Jiří Horníček ORCID...
Národní filmový archiv, Czech Republic ✉

At the end of 1922, the French company Pathé Cinéma introduced a new system called Pathé-Baby to the film equipment market, specifically designed for the lay public, with the aim of commercially exploiting its potential interest in sharing cinematographic experiences also in the home environment, in the circle of family and friends. The 9.5mm format with typical centrally located perforation enjoyed considerable popularity among amateur and family filmmakers, and in Czechoslovakia it achieved its greatest boom in the 1930s. The text describes the history of this format in the Czechoslovak, especially Prague, user environment, focusing primarily on the institutional background created by commercial entities (Optikotechnika, Cinéma, Foto-Kino-Pop) and their connection with the activities of amateur filmmakers associated in the Prague Pathé club. The study deals most comprehensively with the existence and functioning of the Prague trading company Cinéma, the exclusive sales representative of the French company Pathé Cinéma in Czechoslovakia. Using the example of Cinéma, managed by Karel Pop, an active amateur filmmaker, the text documents the wide possibilities of business in the field of amateur film in the 1930s – the sale of technical equipment, laboratory processing of film material and the lending of prints of professional movies in the 9.5mm format for home screening. The text broadly covers the period 1925–1952, defined by the first relevant information on the functioning of the format in our territory and the definitive demise of the existing associations or private businesses after the communist coup in 1948.

Keywords: amateur film, 9.5 mm gauge, Pathé Cinéma, Cinéma company, Pathé klub Prague

Received: June 23, 2025; Revised: September 16, 2025; Accepted: October 22, 2025; Published: November 10, 2025  Show citation

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Horníček, J. (2025). The 9.5 mm Film Format as a Commercial Product. The History of the Cinéma Company in the Context of Czech Amateur Filmmaking Between 1932 and 1952. Iluminace, 37(2), 177-196. doi: 10.58193/ilu.1809
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