(LUMIÈRE ! L’AVENTURE COMMENCE)

Louis Lumière, with the help of his brother Auguste invented and perfected the Cinématographe, finding form and a poetic language through composition, tracking shots, comedy, drama, and actors. Frémaux brilliantly assembles these restored, fifty-second Lumière films, guiding us with enlightened commentary. Punctuated by the music of Camille Saint-Saëns, a contemporary of
Lumière and the first musician to compose an original score for cinema, it is profoundly moving to see these treasures of film history return to the big screen after more than a century of absence.

A selection of short films, made in Dublin in 1897 by Alexander Promio, an agent of the Lumière Brother, will screen before each film. They are among the oldest moving images made in Ireland and 35mm film copies are preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive.

Screening as part of the Lumiére programme at IFI French Film Festival 2025.