The Musée Méliès, the Cinémathèque Française's film museum for fans of the 7th art

Costumes, models, props... The Cinémathèque Française 's film museum houses a wealth of treasures to delight all lovers of the 7th art. New layout, new scenography, new archives, the permanent museum is back, enlarged by 300 square meters and more beautiful than ever, under the name of Musée Méliès , in homage, as you may have guessed, to history's most famous film director, Georges Méliès. This genius accompanies us on a fantastic journey through time, tracing thehistory of cinema.

"The Cinémathèque française has the finest collection of archives devoted to Georges Méliès. Thanks to the figure and work of this first magician of the cinema, to whom the museum is now dedicated, the entire history of cinema is traversed: from the birth of this art, which was initially silent, to the cinema of today, heir to Georges Méliès. The museum alternates eras, combining the cinematic inventions that preceded those of Georges Méliès with all the influences of his work on French poetic and fantastic cinema, as well as on a certain type of American cinema, for example", explains Gabrielle Sébire, co-curator of the museum.

Among the treasures on display are "totally unpublished archives" from the Cinémathèque's "immense reserves", drawn from two collections on Méliès - the collection built up by the Cinémathèque Française's founder, Henri Langlois, during his lifetime from 1936 onwards, and an additional collection acquired in 2004 - but never before shown to the French public. "Following the acquisition of the second collection, the Cinémathèque organized a smaller temporary exhibition. By dedicating our permanent exhibition to this major figure in cinema, we wanted to bring the wealth of our collections to the general public, and in particular to families," explains Gabrielle Sébire.

As soon as theMusée Mélièsopens , you'll be able to discover a number of exceptional, never-before-seen exhibits: Méliès' magician's table when he was director of the Théâtre Robert-Houdin, restored for the occasion; the filmmaker's camera; a model of his studio; a host of original drawings; theHugo Cabret automaton graciously donated to the Cinémathèque by Martin Scorsese to thank the institution for opening its archives to him during the preparatory phase of his film on Méliès; Méliès's magician's cape; a large cast of the Red Selenite - the evil inhabitants who greet visitors to the Moon in Journey to the Moon -; a large model of thebird-headed aircraft from Journey to the Impossible...

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All thesearchives and previously unseen objects are linked to Méliès and form part of the history of cinema presented at the museum, from its very beginnings. The Lumière brothers' cinematograph, the original machine that enabled cinema to be invented, is on display in a room that recreates the first projection on December 28, 1895, at the Grand Café; so is a large zoetrope created by Etienne-Jules Marey to reproduce the flight of birds; beautiful magic lanterns; and the robot from Metropolis.

But more contemporary cinema has not been forgotten, and is also on display for the eyes of fans and the curious of the 7th art. Visitors will be able to discover original costume designs for Peau d'Âne by Agostino Pace; a Spinner model - the cars in Blade Runner -; a sculpture of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Alien; the coat from The Grand Budapest Hotel; and original storyboards from George Lucas' first Star Wars episode.

Definitely alive, this new museum, which owes its scenography to Nathalie Crinière, aims to be accessible to all. "Creating a new Méliès museum in 2021 means offering a wonderful, didactic tour that's accessible to all. Our ambition was to appeal to film buffs and amateurs alike, so that everyone would be delighted to discover sumptuous exhibits, to see Méliès films again and again in their beautiful colors, and to discover the unprecedented links between Méliès and the many filmmakers on whom his work exerted a major influence. It's a lively, fun, interactive exhibition, where visitors can marvel at the audacity, poetry and pranks of Georges Méliès," explains the co-curator.

Indeed, the Musée Méliès has opted for modernity, with, for example, two virtual reality headsets designed by Ubisoft that allow visitors who don them to enter Georges Méliès' studio and take "a journey into the universe" of the filmmaker. A "special effects jukebox" allows visitors to discover the special effects invented by Méliès, and to understand how they have been reinterpreted or continued by other directors in cinema since the very beginning. "We choose, for example, "How do you create a creature in cinema?" and see how Méliès did it, then how we do it today with today's physical and digital techniques."

And children are not to be outdone! A visit booklet with games and coloring pages is offered to everyone as they enter the museum. Then, throughout the exhibition, from room to room, they go in search of the explanatory labels that are addressed to them and enable them to make their own journey through the exhibition. They are also invited to handle a magic lantern, turn a crank to project a Méliès film, or listen to the filmmaker's voice during an interview given in 1937. " Numerous interactive devices dot the itinerary." The exhibition is also an opportunity to discover the Cinémathèque's new educational film studios, located on the 7th floor of the building, by taking part in workshops including "Fais ton cinéma avec Georges Méliès" (Make your own cinema with Georges Méliès), a special effects workshop inspired by the film magician's tricks .

Of course, what would a film museum be without screenings! At the Musée Méliès, in addition to screenings of extracts from films by Méliès and other filmmakers along the way, children and adults will also be able to attend screenings of Méliès films in conditions similar to their original projection, with music and boniment. "As soon as sanitary conditions are satisfactory, Méliès films will be shown in spectacular forms, in a cinema. For Young Audiences, storyteller Julien Tauber and his company will present several shows based on Méliès' major themes, such as travel, magic and the moon. These storytelling shows, with scenic effects and music to accompany the films, will plunge spectators into an enchanted atmosphere," reveals Gabrielle Sébire.

In addition to lectures on Georges Méliès and his work, and guided tours, the opening of the Musée Méliès will not be accompanied by a retrospective per se, as is customary at the Cinémathèque Française for temporary exhibitions, but by a program of screenings of the filmmaker's films spread over the coming year. "Insofar as this new Museum is here to stay, we will be offering very regular screenings of Méliès films in our beautiful Henri Langlois cinema."

We don't know about you, but we can't wait to discover this new cinema den!