‘Taken by my wife’ – Challenging the Amateur/professional binary in Wessex Film and Sound Archive’s (WFSA) Early Films (1895-1922)

Gaines’ phrase, ‘Women were both ‘there’ and ‘not there’’ (2018: 4), captures the paradoxical presence of women in early film history, central to this study on women amateur filmmakers in Wessex Film and Sound Archive (WFSA) up to 1950. Using an intermedial approach, this article seeks to expand recognition of filmmakers by re-examining clearly attributed records and questioning those around which there is ambiguity. Louisa Gauvain (1880-1945) is a key figure in this discussion, whose 1913 work challenges traditional definitions of amateurism. This article argues for a movement beyond the amateur/professional binary to appreciate the diverse contributors to regional film collections, including women and film exhibitors. By analysing Gauvain’s medical film Plaster of Paris (1913), the paper highlights women’s engagement in filmmaking, expressions of gendered labour, and their evolving roles in quasi-professional contexts. The article argues that the film serves as an analogy for the broader treatment of amateur women filmmakers, whose contributions have been largely overlooked. The term ‘non-professional’ is proposed to elevate these filmmakers’ status, integrating their work into a broader media history and beginning the reclamation of women’s contributions to early cinema.