On the 1st of October 2002 a new research project was started at the Smalfilmmuseum in Hilversum/The Netherlands. The project is dedicated to the 17,5mm-film format which was patented by the Heinrich-Ernemann A.G. in Dresden in 1902 and brought on the market in 1903. The project is conducted by Martina Roepke (Utrecht) and Henk Verheul (Sound and Vision, Hilversum) with the support of the Association Europeènne Inédits.

The Ernemann 17,5mm-film was the first film format on the German market designed for amateur filmmakers exclusively and soon became popular outside Germany. Until eventually 1914 the raw film was used by wealthy amateurs to document moments of happiness within the realm of family life. But Ernemann also offered a range of professionally made 17,5mm films of varying content ready for home projection. Ernemanns 'Heimkino', then, can be pictured as a succession of the most private and the most public scenes of those years brought together in one program.

Ernemanns early Home Cinema for 17,5mm-film poses many interesting questions:

- What was this kind of entertainment like, which the first Heimkino offered to it's specators
- How 'educative' was it, how 'illusionary' and how 'ordinary'?
- What was it like to experience this kind of a program?
- How can we describe it's meaning and function?
- How did this 'Home Cinema' relate to the public screenings of the medium?
- And how did it transform or adapt it's forms and contents?
- What are the distinctions between professionalism and amateurism in this period?
- What categories do we need to describe the different activities in this field?

This project attempts to reconstruct Germany's first Heimkino.

We therefore try to contact European Archives as well as private collectors in order to locate as many 17,5mm- Ernemann films as possible, including both amateur and professional productions. Additionally, we are interested in any other documents related to early amateur filmmaking in general and Ernemann in particular, as well as discussion postings and comments concerning the questions raised above.

Finally we hope to stimulate exchange and discussion among film archivists, curators and collectors about the collecting, restoration and presentation of early amateur films.