Pierre Levie

A young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.

Events of strange and serious nature mark the invention and the manufacture of the nylon stockings. For example inhuman exploitation of workers in artificial silk factories. The US army was a substantial promoter of the nylons.

French short adaptation of Herman Melville's classic. The employee of a lawyer is in a mental hospital following a scandal. Some time later, he finds his employer.

No description available.

Julien, a movie director, is on the phase of editing his new film, "Juliette sacrifiée". Hurried by his producer, he asks for the help of a professional editor. It is Anne, with whom Julien is soon falling in love. During the whole of the movie, both are sitting in front of the editing table, where they listen to music, talk about politics and what movies should and should not be about.

André, a wanderer, gets picked up by the guardians of an old castle. They ask him to be the new guardian but keep feeding him a mysterious porridge and a strange wound appears on his neck...

An eccentric film director (Gabriel Cattand) conducts a search for a modern day Joan of Arc. His harridan wife (Ursula Kubler) hounds him constantly during the selection process. When he finally selects the perfect actress, she is driven to suicide before filming can begin in this pretentious picture.

Paul Géniat, television director, is brought to tear multiple photographs. The one of a boxer who, at the exact same time, collapses on the ring, dead. The one of his ex-wife next, who lives in Congo and soon knows a tragic end. When Paul Géniat learns of these curious coincidences, he is convinced that he is responsible for these deaths. At that moment, he realises that he just tore one last photography, the one of the woman he loves.

A castle lost in the middle of the woods. A train track cutting through the countryside. No train ever stops at the tiny station that serves the castle. A young woman, with paralysed legs, spends her time watching out for the train's passing. One day, the train stops and a young man gets out. He seems to know the place. What did he come to do ?

Doctor Hortobagy is a lonely, used old man, haunted by his memories... The German occupation, the Jews, a denunciation... He feels tracked, but is he really? A night where dream and reality, past and present, will merge, events are unfolding quickly.

No description available.

The 11th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Documentary on the work of Etienne-Jules Marey. Marey is a doctor and is interested in movement. He first captures it graphically (the pulse of a man, the stride of a horse, the beating of a bird's wings).

A unique document about life on land and underwater in the Great Barrier Reef. Shot during an expedition that lasted more than five months, the film shows both the fauna and flora of the ocean and the technical equipment used to film these stunning images, which are now a thing of the past.

The 9th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. A ‘panorama’ was a large painting on a cylindrical canvas. It provided a realistic and compelling view of a city, landscape or historical event, giving viewers the feeling that they were part of it. Viewers were positioned in the centre of a circular building or tent, with the canvas stretched around them. This provided a 360-degree view that gave a sense of depth and immersion.

The 16th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Mr Seymour, the hero of the book by London doctor Mr Paris, shows his invention – the thaumatrope – to a little girl and explains how it works. The superimposition of the images is not perfect, so he invents the use of elastic instead of the usual string. Only by recording the two successive images of the thaumatrope on a title bench can they be viewed perfectly. Numerous examples are shown.

The 6th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Featuring demonstrations of magic lanterns by children.

The 8th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Fictionalised documentary about Emile Reynau who invented the praxinoscope and its system of central mirrors. He then projects his paper strips into the projection praxinoscope before creating the Théâtre Optique, presented at the Musée Grévin. The perforated strips are fragile and often break. The show is cancelled. Reynaud tries to apply photography to his praxinoscope, but without success. Desperate and ruined, he throws his strips into the Seine. Only two survived.

No description available.

A glimpse of the pre-history of cinema starting with the projections of Etienne Gaspard Robert (also known as M. Robertson), who used magic lanterns and other optical illusions to develop the genre of the Gothic phantasmagoria in the late eighteenth century.

Short film about the zoetrope, an optical toy