Visiting the Lumière Institute
At 25 rue du Premier-Film in Lyon, you can visit a museum dedicated to a local invention that changed the world. Since this is where the Lumière brothers filmed and screened their first motion picture, it is only fitting that the museum stands here.
History
The Société Lumière (Lumière Company) has been a fixture in Lyon since the late 19th century. This is where the famous brothers developed their Cinématographe and projected their first film, "Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon."
In 1966, the local government launched a museum project under the direction of Dr. Paul Génard, a noted collector of films and cinematic artifacts. The city initially hoped to purchase the original factory site for the museum, but the heirs opted to sell to Ilford Photo. The building was eventually sold to the city in 1976.
After the city acquired the property, the Lumière factory was largely demolished, save for a portion of the hangar that underwent two years of restoration. This structure became the home of the institute when it was founded in 1982. In 1998, further renovations added a cinema and outdoor spaces, overseen by architects Pierre Colboc and Didier Repellin, the chief architect of historical monuments.
The institute has since expanded its scope. It now includes a two-level museum, a documentation center, and educational classrooms. It also manages a photo gallery and three cinema theaters in other parts of the city.
The Lumière Institute
You can attend daily film screenings at the institute on a 42-foot screen. During the summer, you can even catch classic films outdoors during free screenings at Place Ambroise-Courtois (Ambroise-Courtois Square).
Inside the villa built by the father of the Lumière brothers, located right next to the factory, you will find the museum collection established by Dr. Paul Génard. It serves as a time machine for anyone looking to rediscover the history of the silver screen.
For those of us who spend a lot of time in front of a screen watching movies and series, did you know that we owe this new art to the Lumière brothers? Did you know they lived and worked in Lyon?
This small museum, established in a place where the brothers planned to settle, traces the technical history of cinema with original examples of inventions like the cinematograph and the photorama, plus screenings of the first historical films. Very interesting and informative.