Lumière and Company

40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière brothers. In 1995, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the Cinématographe, the first motion picture camera that served also as a projector, forty international film directors were asked to each make a short film, following a specific set of limitations. Using the original camera patented by Louis Lumière and Auguste Lumière, the imaginative filmmakers contributed their work, keeping the shorts under fifty-two seconds, using no synchronized sound, and shooting no more than three takes. The short films were compiled and then released as an anthology film. —Nick Riganas