LumiÚre, Le Cinéma!(2024)
In one of those wonderful coincidences of history, lumiĂšre, the French word for âlight,â was also the last name of brothers Auguste and Louis, whose brilliant invention, the cinematograph, helped to inaugurate the most beloved art form of the last 130 years. Institute LumiĂšre director Thierry FrĂ©maux uses LumiĂšre, Le Cinema! to guide the viewer through over a hundred shortsâsome famous, some forgotten, some never before seenâdirected by LumiĂšre and company. In the process, FrĂ©maux illuminates how the brothers employed the camera as a creative instrument as they (and their operators) mastered framing, staging, and subject selection for quotidian and exotic microdocumentaries as well as the first ever fictional motion pictures. The result is not only a glorious re(telling) of the genesis of cinema but a profound meditation on the beautiful world capturedâand the mysterious world imaginedâby the LumiĂšres.