Le débarquement du congrès de photographie à Lyon

This film is a virtual remake of 'Sortie d'Usine', perhaps making it the first self-referential movie. Instead of the workers streaming out of the factory, we have fellow cinematograph specialists disembarking a liner for a congress. Instead of workers silently doing their masters' bidding, we have colleagues, friends, peers, fearlessly greeting the camera as equals.

This is a film about film - the Congressionists walk with their cameras; this film was precessed immediately for viewing at the conference. Already, the Lumieres' desire to 'objectively' record the world has turned into a naval-gazing admission of defeat, of the impossibility of objectivity untainted by subjectivity or ideology. Godard once suggested that the most honest film would be of a camera recording itself in a mirror. This film is an early grasping of what he means.

Considering that the Photographical Congress arriving in Lyon was a major event, I suppose you could call this one more important than the Lumiere Brothers' previous efforts because the event is something that most people wouldn't see a lot of the time. This film captures simply what the title suggests: a whole crowd of photographers coming off a ferry. Indeed quite a few of the photographers notice the camera and while some tip their hats in greeting, others notice the camera and refuse to be part of the film by dashing off the screen quickly.

At only a minute watching, this short documentary isn't a waste of time. It will probably only be interesting to people like me who, believe it or not, somehow find entertainment in watching these things. Audiences nowadays will find it pretty uninteresting--except for if you're a historian. In that case it's a must-see.

To many historians, December 28, 1895, is the date considered as the day where cinema was born, as it was in that cold day of winter when the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière gave the first public screening of their new invention, the Cinématographe. The brothers' devise would change history of entertainment forever, as it took the idea of motion pictures from the uncomfortable and individual experience of Edison's Kinetoscope, to the more enjoyable atmosphere of a movie projected on a screen. On that day the brothers showed 10 films, and the majority of them were of the kind that later would be known as "actuality films", movies showing an everyday event. However, one of the 10 films was a bit more than a typical "actuality film", as it was actually the register of an event in a fashion more akin to what we know now as documentary films: it was the arrival of the Photographical Congress to Lyon.

While December 28, 1895, was certainly the very first time the brothers showed their invention to the world, it wasn't really the first time the brothers' invention was shown to an audience, as months earlier, the brothers had been doing private screenings for the scientific community of France. The 1895 Photographical Congress that was celebrated at the community of Neuville-sur-Saône in Lyon, was one of the places where the Lumières screened their films for the first time. "Neuville-sur-Saône: Débarquement du congrès des photographes à Lyon", is essentially the recording of the arrival of the members of the Photographical Congress to Neuville-sur-Saône, marking the first time a camera was used to capture something more "special" than people moving or trains arriving. This time the new medium was being used to actually register the event in real time, pretty much in the same way as TV News work today.

Nevertheless, that was not the only thing that "Neuville-sur-Saône" an interesting early short film. The movie was shot when the Congress arrived, early in the morning, and that very same day was shown to its protagonists in the afternoon. One has to wonder how the photographers felt when they saw the images of their arrival actually moving, as if the even was being enacted again. The very same people that looked into the camera (perhaps thinking it was a normal photography) was now watching themselves in a motion picture depicting short seconds of their lives. It was certainly a unique experience, and no doubt the success of "Neuville-sur-Saône: Débarquement du congrès des photographes à Lyon" and their other films that day prompted the brothers to keep working in their preparation for that December day, when the world witnessed what a group of photographers did (and saw) months ago. 7/10

Louis Lumiere sets his camera's sight on other filmmakers. As they exit the boat at Lyon, the attendees greet the camera. August Lumiere is one of the people filmed. As the people filmed were attending the Photographical Congress, they must have appreciated the camera set up before them. Some greet it, while others duck quickly out of the way.

The Lumieres were keen on filming everyday life. They wanted to record everyday moments in normal life. We are able to witness the styles of dress as well as the mannerisms of the people in the late nineteen hundreds.

YOU WILL LIKE THIS FILM, IF YOU LOVED: "Employees Leaving the Lumiere Factory" IF YOU HATED: "The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots"

This film, along with nine other films, were shown at a Paris, mini-film festival, by pioneering filmmakers, the Lumiere brothers, in December of 1895. Most film historians place this date as the start of the film industry. The third movie ever shown to a paying audience, actually says a lot in its short 37 second runtime. The photographers disembark off of a passenger ferry in Neuville-sur-Saône, Rhône, France. Try to remember these guys aren't politicians, but photographers, assembling for a big meeting. The backdrop view of the bridge reminded me of various times in my life when I took a boat trip near a bridge that size. It created some nostalgia for me, which is the prime point of enjoying pioneering films from the silent era. Getting off a boat, feeling the waves underneath, taking in the fresh outside air, speaks volumes here. There are various restorations I found on YouTube for this film, that are really good. If you search you can find perfect versions of this movie.

I thought it was interesting seeing the photographers, tipping their hats to the film cameraman. It showed a respect between the photographers and the cinematographer himself. Being in the 21st century now and seeing it from this point of view, the first thing you think about is, a lot of these guys might lose their jobs someday to this new medium called moving pictures. They were having so much fun, assembling for their photography meeting, they didn't realize they were looking into their future, through the film camera lens of this new medium. Photography had been around for almost 60 years by this point and it begs to wonder if they felt threatened by the new technology that was looking them in the eye. The men coming off the boat created an atmosphere of foreshadowing. It was a preview of an era of innovations, that was coming to the world soon.

9.9 (A+ MyGrade) = 10 IMDB.