Lumière Film : Village de Namo, 1900

Lumière Film: Arroseur et arrosé (The Sprinkler Sprinkled), 1895

The contemporary Lumières

The legacy of the Lumières can still be seen in the cinema as directors pay homage to their forefathers by offering up a familiar shot here, a reference there, or perhaps a particular setting or subject. Most of all, the Lumières have bequeathed a way of making cinema : of recording the real, and expressing real life through motion. This is where Lumière differs from Méliès : not through the documentary/fiction balance, but through identification with the real (Lumière) as opposed to the imaginary (Méliès). This can also be seen in the work of French filmmakers such as Jean Vigo, Jean Renoir, Robert Bresson, and Maurice Pialat (and even, in his own particular way, in Bertrand Tavernier, who was inspired by Lumière Autochromes when filming Un Dimanche à la campagne), and in the work of Italian filmmakers during the New Realism period of the 1950s, as well as in all of Roberto Rossellini’s work. The Lumière influence is also obvious in the work of Abbas Kiarostami, the doyen of Iranian cinema, who reflects the innocence of the first movements. Even today, artists still show, consciously or otherwise, the touch of Lumière. It is also remarkable to note how Lumière films have endured in contemporary art and, furthermore, have influenced various other visual experiments conducted by conceptual artists today (Chantal Ackerman, Alain Fleisher).

Lumière Projection room

See the films: the essential Lumière is here. The projection room in the basement guides you through the Lumières’ careers, and enriches your experience by permanently screening 80 films with commentary. There’s more to Lumière than just L’Arroseur arrosé (The Sprinkler Sprinkled) and Le Goûter de bébé (Baby’s lunch); Louis and his cinematographers made a total of 1,500 films, each lasting around 50 seconds. Today, all his “views” have been restored by the CNC’s Film Archives. One could spend a life time enjoying them!

Projection room n°2

In this 98-seat room, the Lumière Institute runs cinema initiation workshops for groups of young enthusiasts or school-goers. These workshops also focus on the language of images. More than 30,000 children a year take part in the Lumière Institute’s educational activities.