For film lovers, this is where it all began. In Monplaisir, where the Lumière brothers designed their Cinématographe, the device that allowed them to shoot and show their first film, La Sortie de l'usine Lumière in Lyon, in 1895. Today, the factory shed and the Villa Lumière, the former property of Antoine Lumière, father of Louis and Auguste, remain. The Lumière Institute, chaired by Bertrand Tavernier until 2021, is dedicated to the dissemination and conservation of the world's cinematographic heritage in many forms.
The Lumière film collection is made up of 1,425 restored original films, a heritage that was included in UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2005. And since 2009, in October, the institute has been organising the highly popular Lumière Festival. The 7,000 m2 Lumière garden is a haven of peace and is open to all.
