Last month saw the publication of Professor Maria Wyke‘s brand new book Caesar in the USA, which follows on from her earlier books Caesar: A Life in Western Culture (2007) and the edited collection Julius Caesar in Western Culture (2006). In this interview, Professor Wyke explains why the figure of Julius Caesar has fascinated so many different audiences over the centuries, before giving us some exciting glimpses of the Roman leader’s relatively recent uses in American politics, education and popular culture. She also talks about her latest project on Ancient Civilisations in Silent Cinema, which she is co-running with Dr Pantelis Michelakis from the University of Bristol. In this second part of the interview, we hear about some of the technical and practical challenges of making these little-known silent films accessible to a wider audience, and learn about why the dialogue between antiquity and silent cinema is such a rich one.
You can read more about this current research project on the Ancient Civilisations in Silent Cinema project website, where you will also find details of silent film screenings. Upcoming treats include two Italian films, the L’ Odissea (1911) and Cajus Julius Caesar (1914), which will be shown at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre on 3rd May 2013.
But first, click on the image below, or follow this link to our YouTube channel to watch our interview!
Great video – very excited to hear about the forthcoming book and the plans for restoring these wonderful films. Good luck.
Reblogged this on Digital Humanities at The Open University.