In Lyon, a museum and festival dedicated to the Lumières
The 15e edition of the Lumière Festival ended on Sunday and the Institute museum, which we visited in preview, reopens its doors on Thursday 26.
The zoetrope revisited by Emilie Tolot, one of the highlights of the exhibition.
Loïc Benoit.
Lyon, City of Light? Those who are not yet convinced just have to pay a quick visit. While the 15e edition of the Lumière Festival ended on Sunday, with this year the award of the Lumière Prize to Wim Wenders, the Institute’s museum has had a makeover and will officially reopen its doors on Thursday 26. We were able to visit it exclusively there It’s a few days old, and it’s beautiful. Its setting is that of the Villa Lumière, where the two inventors of cinema projection lived. Several rooms are thus devoted to their inventions, and to the richness of the pure exhibitions is added an interactive dimension which should not displease a public less accustomed to these names which make us dream like phénakistiscope, chronophotograph or zoetrope.
The inventors of cinema became rich thanks to photography.
Loic Benoit
Let’s talk about the zoetrope. Originally, this optical toy created in the 19the century, well before the arrival of the Lumière brothers, gave the illusion of animated views thanks to a cylinder rotating more and more quickly around a frieze of drawings. The device has been completely redesigned (by the artist Emilie Tolot) with characters sculpted and arranged on a large board which, when it starts to rotate, gives the illusion of seeing all these figurines move and interact, but in 3D. This is one of the highlights of the exhibition. More solemnly, we discover with a certain restraint and a touch of emotion the device which was used for the first film projection in history, at the Grand Café (December 28, 1895). Only around twenty of these devices must have survived, tells us Fabrice Calzettoni, head of mediation at the Lumière Institute.
The first projector in history.
Loic Benoit
Further on, you can admire an Edison kinetoscope from 1894, of which there are only five or six models left in the world, two Gaumont claw cameras which Feuillade used to film his “Fantômas”, as well as the projection simultaneous viewing of the 1,425 Lumière films restored to date. Yes, it’s possible, thanks to a modern process which consists of pixelating each film.
And then a piece in the museum also reminds us that the Lumières were photographers. And that their genius was to put photography within the reach of amateurs. Which, moreover, made their fortune. Outside the villa where they lived – their rooms have been recreated – there is a park which houses what was the Lumière factory at the end of the 19th century.e century. Today, a cinema is housed there, and every year, the award-winning filmmaker films his own “Exit from the Lumière factories” there. Wim Wenders carried out the exercise on Saturday morning, just after the inauguration of his plaque at rue du Premier-Film.
All movie buffs
But the German director, delighted to be in the spotlight at this heritage Cannes – Thierry Frémaux also directs it – had been wandering around there for a few days. And since Saturday the 14th, the event has once again been sold out, attracting a crazy crowd, young and old alike. It must be said that the program, with its breathtaking eclecticism, proved capable of satisfying all cinephiles. Retrospectives dedicated to Robert Altman, Denys de La Patellière, Ana Mariscal (permanent history of women filmmakers), Yasujiro Ozu, without forgetting Rintaro and Alain Tanner, film concerts with silent masterpieces or great classics black and white, plus a rediscovered section. Not to mention the festival guests, who were all entitled to one or more tributes. This year, Wes Anderson, Marisa Paredes, Alexander Payne, Karin Viard, Taylor Hackford, to name only the main ones, took part in the parade. The festival also organized “Star Wars” and Kenji Misumi nights, commemorated the Disney centenary, and paid tribute to Jacques Rozier.
DVD market at the top
All this in a festive and friendly atmosphere that is certainly very different from the hysteria that can, for example, reign on the Croisette. At the same time, there is a classic film market in Lyon which has truly reassured us about the future of DVD publishing, which is more flourishing than some people suggest. As long as it is taken care of. Which several publishers do very well. Example Carlotta Films, whose collector’s boxes no longer need to be presented (on 26e, dedicated to Wenders’ “Wings of Desire”, was unveiled during the festival), but also Le Chat qui fume and Artus, who uncover pearls and rarities with tireless fervor. Manager of Artus Films, Kévin Boiezon, whom we met a few days ago, confirmed the vitality of a market that is certainly niche, but in which an encore film like “The Torturers of the Love Camp”, with a circulation of around 1000 copies , flows quickly. An example far from isolated. In short, we will return to Lyon.
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2023-10-25 19:53:30
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