Lumière, Le Cinéma!

Overview

In a delightful twist of history, the French word for “light” happened to be the surname of brothers Auguste and Louis, whose ingenious cinematograph sparked the most beloved art form of the last 130 years. Institute Lumière director Thierry Frémaux, in *Lumière, Le Cinéma!*, guides viewers through over a hundred short films—some iconic, some obscure, some never before released—directed by the Lumières and their team. Along the way, he reveals how they wielded the camera as a creative tool, mastering framing, staging, and subject choice in everyday and exotic mini-documentaries, alongside the very first fictional films. The result is not just a vivid retelling of cinema’s birth, but a deep reflection on the beautiful world they captured—and the mysterious one they imagined.