Reel Life

With a reputation as the birthplace of cinema,France has film programmed into its cultural DNA.Lara Dunn explores some of the landmarks.

When Antoine Lumière achieved the first projection of a moving picture in Paris in 1895,France’s place in cinematic history was assured. Four main companies dominated the early days of film in France, with names such as Gaumont and Pathé entering the everyday lexicon of cinema, enduring even today.

From that point on, France’s innovation in the arena of film and cinema grew steadily, managing to limp through the lean years just after World War I, to develop landmark styles such as impressionism and poetic realism with directors including Jean Vigo, Jacques Feyder and Marcel Carné.