The short clip shows a spiritualist séance featuring a medium and two ‘spirits’, shot in Peter Elfelt’s studio. Dr Faustinus (1868–1946 – real name Faustinus Edelberg Pedersen), after whom the film is named, was an active figure within the field of spiritism and the occult.
The spiritualist movement, which had its breakthrough in Denmark around 1890, can be seen as a response to the void caused by the general erosion of religion. At the same time, it constituted an attempt to take religion in a new direction that could be reconciled with a modern, scientific worldview.
Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866–1931) was Denmark’s first filmmaker. He was primarily a photographer, but after acquiring a film camera from France he recorded his first short film sequence, ‘Driving with Greenland Dogs’, in early 1897. Lasting approximately half a minute, the film would be the starting point for a more extensive production of ‘nature pictures’, reportage films and footage of everyday life in Denmark. He also made ‘The Execution’ (1903), which is considered the first Danish fiction film.
The spiritualist movement, which had its breakthrough in Denmark around 1890, can be seen as a response to the void caused by the general erosion of religion. At the same time, it constituted an attempt to take religion in a new direction that could be reconciled with a modern, scientific worldview.
Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866–1931) was Denmark’s first filmmaker. He was primarily a photographer, but after acquiring a film camera from France he recorded his first short film sequence, ‘Driving with Greenland Dogs’, in early 1897. Lasting approximately half a minute, the film would be the starting point for a more extensive production of ‘nature pictures’, reportage films and footage of everyday life in Denmark. He also made ‘The Execution’ (1903), which is considered the first Danish fiction film.
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