Lumière Lives: Cinema’s Birth Revived 130 Years Later

Lumière l’aventure continue: Cinema’s Genesis

Once upon a time, 130 years ago, two French brothers, Auguste and Louis, the engineer, used film. It was a flexible and durable ribbon.  John Carbutt invented it in 1888. American industrialist George Eastman marketed it in the United States and England, (He would later become Kodak.) Brothers Auguste and Louis, named Lumière, a predestined surname, had just invented the cinematograph in 1895! The adventure of this device inspired Thomas Edison’s 35mm Eastman film. It was both a camera and a movie projector. Lumiere further perfected it. Rectangular perforations per frame reinforced it. This later became the symbol of cinema. The French brothers had the genius to capture this moving photograph. Louis Lumière registered their trademark for a camera. The “Cinematograph” comes from the words “kinema.” They come from the ancient Greek. It means “movement.”; also comes from “graphe”; and it means “to write.” The Thierry Fremaux’s documentary “Lumière l’Aventure continue” shares this story.

Fremaux’s Homage: Reviving Cinema’s Roots

Thierry Fremaux‘s (1h44) documentary of “Lumiere, the continuing adventure” pays excellent homage to the Lumiere inventors of cinema. He does this through this restoration of footage from the Lumiere brothers in this film. The film revives the birth of cinema. It uses very carefully selected footage, including “The Sprinkler Sprinkles.” Through a harmonious and authentic composite of 100 minutes of 55-second footage, the film tells a story. It is historical, funny, and wildly modern.

A Century Later: Celebrating Genius

These two brothers, the Lumière brothers, had just invented cinema. They used this patent of genius in 1895. Everything was already there: the shots, the tracking shots, the drama, the comedy, the acting… to deliver what would become the 7th, for the enjoyment of the audience.

Thierry Fremaux, a hundred years later, another Frenchman, passionate about cinema, currently president of the Lumière Institute in Lyon, offered the best of tributes to these great ingenious and mischievous geniuses of the image. He did this with this documentary “Lumière the Inventor Continues.” Fremaux allowed this adventure to continue. He restored more than 120 unseen Lumière shots. He did this in the most original way. The result is spectacularly authentic. This is thanks to the smart and honest narration of Thierry Fremaux. He lent his voiceover. (He did well to personalize this delicate narrative work.)

This brings a dynamic and even more personal touch. It is supported by the tone. This imposes a rhythm. It is both humorous in certain moments of the comical scenes. It is also very serious, dictated by the documentary style. “When Lumiere turns the handle, the great story is played out in the technical accomplishment of a small iron and wood device with perfect contours,” explains Thierry Fremaux. This is a prelude to what would prove to be invaluable to the artistic heritage of humanity.

vice with perfect contours,” explains Thierry Fremeaux. This is a prelude to what would prove to be invaluable to the artistic heritage of humanity.

Restoring History: 500 Films and Counting out of 1500 Footages

Thus, the film, composed of restored images, offers the viewer a faithful rendition of the world “at the beginning of the century and a stimulating journey to the origins of a cinema that knows no end,” as described by the Lumière Image Institute.

Thierry Fremaux explains his intention: “We decided to restore Lumière’s images. There are 1,500 lefts. We’ve already restored 500; the adventure isn’t over yet.” He modestly admits. “In Lyon, I express my joy and humility to be here. It’s a film by Maison Lumiere & Sons and this heritage is universal; it belongs to everyone,” he concludes.

A Star-Studded Premiere: Celebrating Cinema

Our reporter, among the lucky few, had the chance to see the film in advance. They saw it in the presence of the great film director Costa Gavras and Irene Jacob, President and CEO of the Cinematheque of Paris. They also saw the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, and Gaetan Bruel (former General Director of Villa Albertine, New York), the new Director General of the CNC, and Thierry Fremaux, Director General of the Lumière Institute.

See the photo, even the cinematograph, the original wooden apparatus, ancestor of the movie camera, of the Lumière brothers was there alongside the celebrities who delivered their speeches. Since that day in June 1982 when the young Thierry Fremaux discovered the “Villa Lumière” in the Monplaisir district of Lyon, he has never left it. He spent a night in the place where Auguste and Louis Lumiere launched world cinema: the opportunity was obvious.

It is a way for Thierry Fremaux, (Also General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival) to perform an exciting and virtuoso stroll. Thierry brings the past of the rue du Premier-Film back to the present. He expresses what we all owe to cinema. Thierry does this throughout his passion serving the 7th art. This allows us to see the world at the same time as he imagines it.

Thierry Fremaux: Guardian of Cinema’s Past & Future

As for Thierry Fremaux, all the great film buffs and legendary directors, actors, and technicians who walk the most famous red carpet of cinema at the Cannes Film Festival know that he’s the boss. Well-known, renowned, and recognized, seen either in the Debussy Auditorium, or during the Directors’ Fortnight, or among his favorites, the tireless Thierry watches every film, before the shortlist of some twenty cinematographic works in competition, for the most wanted Palme d’Or.

As passionate as he is accessible, Thierry Fremaux, in addition to being a pillar of this prestigious Cannes Film Festival and the Institute of Lumière in Lyon, is a likeable and timeless character. It is fair and makes sense to have him so literate and passionate about cinema. He leads this festival and the Institute of Lumiere in Lyon. He biconically represents French Cinema from the past and the future.

In 2025, the 130th anniversary of the birth of cinema from France, having generated a centenary later, the film industry, passing through Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood, and independent cinema in the four corners of the world. The year 2025, can only be an excellent vintage for film production in the manner of a good French vintage wine whose ideal maturation, through its aging versus the threats of films made by Artificial Intelligence.

Human Emotion vs. AI: Cinema’s Enduring Power

The film “Lumière l’ Aventure continue” proves how human genius, including cinema, which feeds only on emotion, and to touch an audience through human emotion, will continue and resist the wear and tear of time, however technological it may be, like AI devoid of emotion…

References & Sources:

1. 1-Report at Cinematheque of Paris, covering the visit of Ministry of Culture, Rachida Dati, during the premiere of the film “Lumière l’aventure continue” directed by Thierry Fremeaux, 11 march 2025
2. Release of the film in France : 19 March 2025 (Anniversary Date)
3. 2- Sources :  Institute of Lumiere, Lyon
4. 3-Official Trailer  of the film “Lumière l’aventure continue”  (French with English subtitles) to be viewed on

Written and narrated by Thierry Fremaux based on a series of cinematographic views shot by Louis Lumière and his operators starting in 1895

Synposis: Second installment of the series started by Lumière! The Adventure Begins (2016), which offers a new collection of films shot at the beginning of the last century, brought together and restored here for the first time. Thierry Fremaux, General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, continues his passionate work at the Lumière Institute in Lyon, where cinema was invented, for the restoration and distribution of heritage works, focusing on the work of his “fathers”: Louis and Auguste Lumière. These very French films, which nevertheless contain the genesis and ideas of many American blockbusters, prove that they are, as Bertrand Tavernier said, “witnesses of our time.”