Press release: The West in Early Cinema by Nanna Verhoeff
The archetypal Western conjures up images of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or even the Lone Ranger—the solitary cowboy shooting his way through uncivilized country. But in its nascent form, the Western was a complex genre that embraced surprisingly diverse themes. In The West in Early Cinema, Nanna Verhoeff examines the earliest films made between 1894 and 1915, and reveals how the films meditate on a world far beyond the West, speaking to the relentless march of civilization.