Through the example of German Cinema from the Weimar period (1918-1933) – films like Metropolis and Nosferatu – it shows how their reputations were shaped by a long chain of decisions: which films were promoted abroad, praised by critics, and later preserved in archives, all the way to what is now referenced by filmmakers and available for streaming. By combining close readings of historical sources with data analysis, the project develops a new theoretical and methodological framework to analyze the canonization process.