Exploring early cinema’s imprint on the region
Once known as the “biggest little movie city,” Ithaca was a center of early American filmmaking, surrounded by silent film studios, pioneering sound technology and film manufacturing across the Finger Lakes. In Renwick Park — now Stewart Park — filmmakers Ted and Leopold Wharton established a studio that shaped the region’s cinematic legacy. Building on this history, Mapping Place Through Cinema is a multifaceted, community-based collaboration that invites students to explore the connections between film, place and community in central upstate New York.
The project will transform Cinematic Cities (SPAN/COML 3485) — taught by Patricia Keller, associate professor of Spanish and comparative literature, and Cecilia Lawless, senior lecturer of Spanish language and literature — into a fully community-engaged undergraduate course. Students will study “city symphony” films and their connection to modern architecture, technology and urban culture while placing major global film centers in conversation with Ithaca’s own environment and cinematic history. With community partners including Cinemapolis, the Wharton Studio Museum, the State Theatre and the History Center of Tompkins County, students will research and help curate public events such as a film series. They will also draw on local archives, festivals and exhibitions to design a digital map of Ithaca’s cinematic footprint, from the silent film era to present-day moviegoing culture, and incorporate locations such as Elmira, Corning, Geneva and Utica.
Patricia Keller, Department of Romance Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
Cecelia Lawless, Department of Romance Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
Community Partners: Cinemapolis, The History Center of Tompkins County, The Wharton Studio Museum, The State Theatre