Paris exposition films (1900)

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Balloon Accident at St Cloud

An aeronautical accident is caught on camera at a Parisian 'Aéro-Parc'.

France 1939: One Last Summer

Gustave Folcher, a French farmer, wrote in his 1939 diary that the summer had been long and hot. He was not alone. Many other anonymous French men and women wrote of the beauty and warmth of those summer months and how threats of war were far from their minds. Through home movies, diaries and letters, One Last Summer describes the final weeks of peace in France and the mix of blindness, denial and prophetic clear-sightedness of those facing the war that was about to unfold.

A, B, C... Z

Children get ready to start the first grade. They start learning the first letters.

Cinéastes de notre temps : Jean Vigo

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La Doctrine

Narrator dreams of Madrid while being caught in a repetitive loop somewhere in Paris. He questions if his interlocutor is a real human being, as their dialogue, mostly built of citations, doesn't seem to be helping with breaking the loop.

L'Adieu à Solférino

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Roald Amundsen's South Pole Expedition

Roald Amundsen's South Pole Journey is a Norwegian documentary film that features Roald Amundsen's original footage from his South Pole expedition from 1910 to 1912.

Le Mural

A documentary short by Barbara Bingley-Verseman about the creation of a monumental outdoor mural by her twin sister, LA-based Kat Bing, and Parisian artist Kekli in the lead up to the Paris 2024 Olympics

Broads

The social democrats of the sixties and seventies worked on their grand plan to build a highway network in Germany that every German citizen could reach within five minutes of their home. The little film hangs around between and on the streets of this network - where the country discos, pedestrian zones, shopping centers, hospitals and roads home are behind noise barriers.

Monty Python: Before the Flying Circus

Discover how six seemingly ordinary but supremely talented men became Monty Python, sketch comedy's inspired group of lunatics who turned such unlikely sources of inspiration as Spam, dead parrots and the Inquisition into enduring punch lines. This entertaining documentary includes interviews with members of the troupe, as well as home movies, photos and rare recordings from Monty Python's early years.

Dans les coulisses du métro de Paris

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Paris Story

Who has not dreamed of embracing the city of Paris from the sky? Fly and explore the exceptional places that have shaped and are shaping the history of Paris: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris, the Louvre, the Bastille, Invalides, the Opera ... Far from the clichés of postcards out of marked routes by travel guides, this new film invites viewers to an exceptional private tour of the city of Paris. Travel through the centuries and be witnesses of the birth of the City Lights. This new production reveals one of the most influential capitals in the world as you've never seen.

Les bouillons parisiens, une histoire de goût

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