The impetus for the Eclipse Film Database arose from the interest expressed by many members of the Solar Eclipse Mailing List (SEML) about documentary films on eclipses and dramatic films in which eclipses are depicted in one way or another. In the course of doing research for my own documentary film for the National Film Board of Canada, I compiled a partial list of such films. Hence, it was just a matter of digging a little deeper and enlisting the help of some SEML members who provided further titles and descriptions to compile a more complete list.

The database is divided into two main categories : 1) documentary films, and 2) dramatic films. You will note that some entries in both categories are incomplete. In the case of dramatic films, this may even mean that I haven’t been able to confirm whether or not an eclipse is depicted at all in the movie, thus the mention "Eclipse ?"

The recent proliferation of digital video cameras and post-production equipment created a delicate problem when it came time to catalog documentary films. Indeed, a good number of umbraphiles now produce their very own eclipse movies. Despite the undeniable quality of some of these films, not all of them rise above the home movie idiom. Thus, for the time being, I have decided to only list documentary films that were produced for broadcast or have been broadcasted in their entirety. That being said, I have started gathering information about "amateur" videos, so feel free to forward this information to me.

This project has been a collaborative effort and I wish to thank all those who have contributed to its realization. In particular, I am most grateful to eclipseguy for hosting the database on his Web site. My hope is that by making the database available on the Internet it will not only give people access to the data but encourage others to contribute further information. I welcome your comments and feedback. Please write to me at the address below.

Jean Marc Larivière
jeanmarc.lariviere@sympatico.ca

CONVENTIONS
Titles in brackets indicate either an alternative title or an English translation of the original title. Most dramatic films are available at traditional commercial outlets or at e-merchants so no further distribution information is provided. Distributors and contact information is included in other cases when available. If a film is available in a version other than English, those languages are separated by a slash. Otherwise the mention of more than one language indicates that those languages are used in the original sound track. Synopses supplied by production companies are not attributed. I have attempted to attribute all other contributions as much as possible. Please advise me of errors or omissions.

(IMDb) = Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com/)