Cinematograph Day

What Is Cinematograph Day?

December 28th is "Cinematograph Day." It commemorates December 28, 1895, when the Lumière brothers (Auguste and Louis Lumière) of France held the first commercial screening of their cinématographe at a café in Paris, marking the birth of the film exhibition business. It is often called the birthday of world cinema.

The Lumière Brothers and the Birth of Cinema

The cinématographe was a combined film camera and projector developed by the Lumière brothers. The first screening took place in the "Indian Salon," a basement room of the Grand Café in Paris. The first day's takings were only about 33 francs (some say 35), but word spread quickly and within days people were lining up outside. The films shown on the first day are thought to have included "Workers Leaving the Factory" and "The Sprinkler Sprinkled."

A Timeline of Film History

• 1895: The Lumière brothers' cinématographe has its first commercial screening in Paris
• 1896: Edison's Kinetoscope (a peep-show viewer) is shown to the public in Kobe
• 1927: "The Jazz Singer," known as the first feature-length talkie, is released
• 1935: "Becky Sharp," the first feature film in three-strip Technicolor, is released
• 1990s onward: CGI and digital imaging revolutionize filmmaking
• Today: Streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ have transformed how we watch movies

How This Differs from Movie Day (December 1)

In Japan, December 1st is "Movie Day," commemorating the first film screening in Japan in 1896, while December 28th is Cinematograph Day, commemorating the Lumières' first commercial screening. Both days are good occasions to celebrate the magic of cinema.