The brothers Auguste (1862–1954) and Louis (1864–1948) Lumière were the world's first film-makers. In 1895, they gave their first public cinema show in a café in Paris. A succession of short films, none lasting more than 49 seconds, showed scenes of everyday life in the city, such as people leaving their work at a factory, a gardener being sprinkled by his own hose and a train pulling into a station.

Cinématographe

The Lumière brothers' groundbreaking invention, the Cinématographe, could record pictures on to film, and then project them on to a screen for viewing. Their invention made use of perforations, holes punched in the film stock, as a means of advancing the film through the camera and projector. A multi-billion-dollar industry, as well as a dynamic new art form, grew up from their invention.