Short Film Day

The Thai Film Archive at Salaya will celebrate Short Film Day on 28th December with screenings of Lumière! and Hugo. Short Film Day marks the date in 1895 when the Lumière brothers showed a programme of short films to customers at a café in Paris.

Lumière! is a compilation of 114 meticulously restored short films by the Lumière brothers. Narrated by Thierry Frémaux, it’s similar to the earlier documentary The Lumière Brothers’ First Films, a compilation of eighty-five Lumière films narrated by Bertrand Tavernier. (In both compilations, the short films are arranged thematically rather than chronologically.) Lumière! was previously shown at the Alliance Française in Bangkok in 2018.

Hugo was Martin Scorsese’s first film in 3D, and also his first film aimed specifically at a family audience. It’s nominally the story of Hugo Cabret, a Parisian orphan, but its real focus is filmmaker Georges Méliès, played by Ben Kingsley. Méliès sells toys at a small booth, though Hugo discovers his past as a cinema pioneer.

Hugo also has parallels with Scorsese’s own life. Like the title character, Scorsese was captivated by the cinema as a child, and he rehabilitated the reputation of director Michael Powell, just as Hugo brings Méliès back into the limelight.

The Film Archive will also show Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, on 6th December. This classic Hollywood-on-Hollywood satire has been shown previously at Bangkok Screening Room, and at Smalls in Bangkok.