What does the silver screen screen? It screens me from the world it holds – that is, makes me invisible. And it screens that world from me – that is, screens its existence from me.

Stanley Cavell, The World Viewed

The Eleventh Film

The first public film screening organised by Auguste and Louis Lumière took place on December 28^th 1895 at the Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris. Eleven short films were on the bill that night. Each film was 17 meters long, which, when hand cranked through a projector, ran approximately 50 seconds. Only ten films are listed for posterity.

1. La Sortie de L’Usine Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory ) (46 seconds)
2. Le Jardinier (L’Arroseur Arrosé) (The Gardener, or The Sprinkler Sprinkled) (49 seconds)
3. Le Débarquement du Congrès de Photographie à Lyon (The Disembarkment of the Congress of Photographers in Lyon) (48 seconds)
4. La Voltige (Horse Trick Riders) (46 seconds)
5. La Pêche aux poissons rouges (Fishing for Goldfish) (42 seconds)
6. Les Forgerons (Blacksmiths) (49 seconds)
7. Repas de bébé (Baby’s Breakfast) (41 seconds)
8. Le Saut à la couverture (Jumping onto the Blanket) (41 seconds)
9. La Places des Cordeliers à Lyon (Cordeliers Square in Lyon) (44 seconds)
10. La Mer (Baignade en mer) (The Sea/Bathing in the Sea) (38 seconds)

The eleventh film was called The View of Pazuzu returning to the World – a desert scene, with a half-buried broken statue and the wind blowing. It ran for only one second and was not noticed by the audience.

At the very moment that cinema was born the world’s fate was sealed and so the birth of one thing brought about the death of another.

With a new portal open, the passage from Beyond becomes possible once more.