The movie camera was born in chaos, obsession, and Parisian smoke — decades before the Lumières stole credit.
Throughout the 19th century, imaginative and visionary artists and inventors brought about the advent of a new look, absolutely modern and truly cinematographic, long before the revolutionary invention of the Lumière brothers and the arrival of December 28, 1895, the historic day on which the first cinema performance took place.
Cinematography
Gorgeous resurrection of 19th-century optical toys and proto-film experiments.
Editing
Elegant weaving of paintings, photographs, and early motion studies.
Production
Rare archival access makes cinephiles weep with joy.
Director
Stefan Cornic
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle featured a 'Cinématographe Lumière' pavilion that cemented their mythology — this doc actively dismantles that PR coup.
Tacita Dean's presence isn't random: she's a leading artist working in analog film, literally keeping the chemical ghosts alive that this documentary celebrates.
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