ABSTRACT
This essay assesses Jay Leyda’s contribution to film studies’ gradual emergence as a field of knowledge in the twentieth century. It focuses on Leyda’s stay in the Soviet Union in the 1930s during a key moment in the development of an ambitious and experimental programme for the production, research and preservation of cinema. Leyda’s life-long travel trajectories which began in Russia shaped his understanding of the archive’s role as a source, foundation, and vehicle for cinematic knowledge and his keen awareness of its geopolitical positioning, producing a vision of film history that was unique for American culture at the time. The essay argues for the importance of his legacy as speaking to key developments within film and media historiography today.
