Lyon: the cradle of cinema

The world's first public screening took place in December 1895, at the Grand Café in Paris. The film La sortie des ouvriers de l'usine Lumière, in black and white, lasted less than a minute, but it worked its magic. Cinema was born!

The Lumière brothers were the two Lyonnais behind the creation of the 7th art. In the 1890s, Louis and Auguste's father discovered the Kinetoscope and encouraged his sons to take an interest in projecting moving images. After a year's work, they perfected the cinematograph, which enabled a large audience to watch a film simultaneously.

In the months that followed, the brothers opened cinemas around the world to show several films they had shot. These sequences highlighted the lives of the French, in perfectly classical scenes. Over the next ten years, Auguste and Louis made more than 1,400 films, while working on the development of colour. While this is an everyday activity today, watching a film was extraordinary 130 years ago!

A place with a strong history

Before creating the cinematograph with his brother, Louis wanted to industrialise the creation of his dry photographic plates. The family rented land in Monplaisir to build a factory. It was here that they shot their very first film! The Villa Lumière, which now houses the museum, was the family home. The Hangar du Premier-Film was home to several workshops where the famous plates were made, with manual and mechanised operations. At the end of the day in March 1895, Louis set up his camera and filmed towards the exit of the Hangar; the first images of the film La sortie des ouvriers de l'usine Lumière were shot.

A house that keeps cinema alive

An institute was built in 1982 to look after the cinematographic heritage. The complex, which has two cinemas, a villa, a museum and a photo gallery, is located at 25 rue du Premier Film.

You can now wander through the Villa's 21 beautifully decorated rooms to admire the brothers' inventions, including the famous "n°1" cinematograph. The Hangar du Premier-Film, next door, is where the 1st film was made and screened: La sortie des ouvriers de l'usine Lumière. To this day, it is a screening room for a wide variety of films. Every day, there are screenings, events, workshops and exhibitions on offer to the public. The programme is always varied, but all have one thing in common... a passion for cinema!

📍 Location: rue du Premier Film, 69008 Lyon

👛 Price: variable depending on the location and the show. More information on ticketing here

Since 2009, the association has been organising a film festival called the Grand Lyon Film Festival, or more commonly the Festival Lumière. Each year, in the places where the 7th art was invented, this invention is celebrated and the Lumière Prize is awarded to a cinema personality. Through exhibitions, screenings and encounters, everyone can get close to this art form, which can sometimes seem inaccessible.

Clint Eastwood, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda and even Tim Burton have been awarded the Prix Lumière, and it's easy to see why! At the Institut Lumière, films are not just about entertainment, they are an institution.

Between screenings, the Festival Village, in the grounds of the Institut, offers food and drink, souvenirs and daily concerts! It's a real lively place that brings to life this annual interlude where cinema takes centre stage. Fans of the big screen are in for a treat!