TALES OF MILITANT CHEMISTRY: THE FILM FACTORY IN A CENTURY OF WAR.

United States; Germany

Eastman Kodak Co. EK

Tales of Militant Chemistry: The Film Factory in a Century of War examines how the production of "safe" cellulose acetate film stock positioned companies like Kodak in the United States and Agfa in Germany as key chemical actors influencing twentieth-century wars, industries, and geopolitics. The book reveals the interconnectedness of film factories with military developments, colonial extraction, racial and labor violence, and environmental harm, highlighting how film chemistry contributed to the production of explosives, nuclear weapons, and plastics. Through archival research and case studies—including Kodak’s role in World War II and the Manhattan Project, Belgian colonial propaganda in Congo, and labor exploitation in German and American factories—the work situates film history within broader political, ethical, and ecological contexts. It argues that understanding film’s material history is essential to comprehending the century’s global conflicts and extractive economies, while also calling for further engagement with Global South perspectives on extractivism. [Extracted from the article]