Plot

In 1923, facing bankruptcy, film pioneer Georges Méliès burned all the original negatives of his early masterpieces. Almost a century later, dozens of his negatives were discovered in the Library of Congress. How did he do his final trick?

Son of a shoe manufacturer, Georges Méliès decided to devote himself to magic. In 1888, he used his share of the inheritance to buy the Robert-Houdin Theater, Boulevard des Italiens, where his fairy-tale shows drew crowds. Seven years later, dazzled by the animated image of the Lumière brothers, he launches into a new art form, cinema. His thirst for enchantment led him to invent special effects. But the evolution of the public's taste and the passage of the cinema to the industrial era put away his dream machine. Forgotten, he ends up running a toy store in the Montparnasse train station. In 1923, in a fit of despair, he destroyed the negatives of his films. Since then, film buffs all over the world have found and restored reels.

From a young age, film pioneer Georges Méliès was captivated by magic and illusions. He bought the Robert-Houdin Theatre, where ecstatic film enthusiasts gathered to witness his mesmerising shows. Eager to learn more about the emerging technology of moving images and inspired by the work of Louis Lumière and Auguste Lumière, Méliès purchased a projector from England to transform his theatre into a cinema. His directorial debut with "Card Party (1896)" led Méliès to establish the first film studio in France. A year later, he founded Star Film, his own production company, and created over 500 films. Despite early success, Méliès faced hard times. The rise of large cinemas and the demand for new films, combined with the overwhelming competition from major film companies, eventually led to the loss of most of his fortune. As a result, Méliès destroyed the original negatives of his early masterpieces in a fit of despair. However, nearly a century later, dozens of his films were rediscovered in the Library of Congress in the United States. But how did the legendary French illusionist pull off his last trick?—Nick Riganas