All Films

Milan: The Rowers

1896 • 1 min

View of a group of Milanese rowers. The video was made by the operator Giuseppe Filippi, the official dealer of the Lumière Brothers for the Italian territory.

Children playing with skipping rope

1896 • 1 min • France

A group of children are encouraged to play in a park by two men. Some play a skipping game. One of the other children refuses and eventually runs away. Another child is fascinated by the camera and stares at it throughout, even when encouraged by one of the men to play. IN the background, traffic passes and pedestrians stroll past behind a railing on an upper level. The children wear sunhats, indicating the weather is very sunny.

Danses Russes

1896 • 1 min

Two women perform a choreographed 'Russian' dance routine.

Place de la Concorde

1896 • 1 min

A look at a public square in Paris.

Giant and Dwarf

1896 • 1 min • France

A bout between a tall man and a dwarf.

Cavalcade (char du soleil)

1896 • 1 min

Several parade floats are escorted by people in costumes.

Sortie d'une noce à l'église

1896 • 1 min • France

A wedding party leave church in this Lumière brothers' short film.

Dresde, vieux quartier à l'Exposition

1896 • 1 min • France

Visitors at a historical fair in the mediaeval city of Dresden.

Boat at Sea

1896 • 1 min • France

A small boat, with three men aboard, is shaken by the backwash.

Umberto and Margherita of Savoy Strolling Through the Park

1896 • 1 min

The royal family of Italy go for a walk in the park.

Sortie d'usine, [III]

1896 • 1 min • France

Working men and women leave the Lumière factory, through the main gate. Three separate versions of this film exist, this is the second remake "no horse" version.

Bicycling Group

1896 • 1 min

A staged film where over 100 cyclists cycle towards the camera.

Vaulting

1896 • 1 min • France

Considered a remake of Lumière's La Voltige from 1895.

Sack Race

1896 • 1 min • France

Shot in 1896, this playful actuality captures workers from the Lumière factory in Lyon competing in a sack race. The scene shows the participants’ comic struggles and falls, with onlookers enjoying the lighthearted contest. Beyond its humor, the film offers a glimpse of everyday leisure and camaraderie among the Lumière workforce during cinema’s earliest years.

London Street Dancers

1896 • 1 min

Three young women dance in Drury Lane, London.

Courses d'ânes: II, la course

1896 • 1 min • France

Ploughing

1896 • 1 min • France

Carpenters

1896 • 1 min • France

In front of a building, five carpenters are working on woodworking machines.

Cuirassiers on Horseback

1896 • 1 min • France

Filmed in 1896 by the Lumière brothers, this short actuality captures a dramatic cavalry charge by cuirassiers — heavily armed horsemen in traditional military uniforms. The riders gallop across open ground directly toward the camera, creating an energetic and imposing image that thrilled early audiences with its sense of motion and spectacle.

Débarquement

1896 • 1 min

A short documentary clip released by Pathé Frères.

Carga de rurales

1896 • 1 min • France

A clip by Gabriel Veyre showing horses galloping at a Mexican festival.

Arroseur et arrosé, II

1896 • 1 min • France

A gardener is watering his flowers, when a mischievous boy sneaks up behind his back, and puts a foot on the water hose. The gardener is surprised and looks into the nozzle to find out why the water has stopped coming. The boy then lifts his foot from the hose, whereby the water squirts up in the gardener's face. The gardener chases the boy, grips his ear and slaps him in his buttocks. The boy then runs away and the gardener continues his watering. Three separate versions of this film exist, this is the first remake.

Via Carlo Alberto

1896 • 1 min • France

Paul Nadar pratiquant l'escrime

1896 • 1 min • France