France
Shown in 2001
CREDITS
- dir
-
Georges Méliès, et al
- source
-
Lobster Films, 13 rue Lacharrière, 75011 Paris, France. FAX: 33-1-43-57-26-05
- premiere
-
North American Revival Premiere
OTHER
A house put up for sale early in 1999 on France’s Atlantic coast; a wardrobe which yielded a hidden chest containing nearly 200 pounds of old films; two film experts summoned to the scene from Paris’s Lobster Films. This unexpected chain of events produced an amazing discovery. Though nearly half the films had completely decomposed, the remaining reels included many rare treasures: early films from the production houses of Lumière, Gaumont and Pathé. But the greatest find was no fewer than 30 films made by pioneer magician and filmmaker Georges Méliès between 1896 and 1905, of which 17 had long been considered totally lost! Many of these extraordinary finds, along with other rarities by Alice Guy, Ferdinand Zecca, Segundo de Chomon and others, will be presented for the first time in America in this special program by Lobster’s Serge Bromberg, who is not only a passionate collector and presenter of silent films, but a talented raconteur and an accomplished musician: He accompanies his own presentations at the piano.
—Peter Scarlet
FACTOID #45
Peter Jennings, Peter Ustinov, Bill Cosby and Gene Kelly have all served as master of ceremonies on Opening Night of the San Francisco International Film Festival.
