The Lumières held their first private screening of projected motion pictures in 1895. The showing of approximately ten short films lasting only twenty minutes in total was held in the basement lounge of the Grand Cafe on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris and would be the very first public demonstration of their device they called ‘the Cinematograph’ which effectively functioned as camera, projector and printer all in one.
It is believed their first film was actually recorded that same year (1895) with Léon Bouly’s cinématographe device, which was patented the previous year. The cinématographe — a three-in-one device that could record, develop, and project motion pictures — was further developed by the Lumières.
The Lumiere Brothers have been credited with over 1,425 different short films and had even filmed aerial shots years before the very first airplane would take to the skies.
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