This Region 2 PAL collection of 60 early short films from the British Film Institute’s National Film and Television Archive includes 13 short films by the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès’ Voyage a travers l’impossible (1904), Birt Acres’ Rough Sea at Dover (1895), nine films by the Pathé brothers (including Ali Baba et les quarante voleurs [190?] and Peeping Tom [190?]), five films from the Hepworth Company (including Rescued by Rover [1905]), an advertising film commissioned by the biscuit company Peek Frean & Co., a documentary produced by the Kineto Production Company A Day in the Life of a Coalminer (1910), films by the Edison Manufacturing Company (including Dewar’s – It’s Scotch [189?] — reputedly the first advertising film, The Gay Shoe Clerk [1903], The Great Train Robbery [1903] and Dream of a Rarebit Fiend [1906]). Also included are films by Robert W. Paul, George Albert Smith, Sheffield Photographic Company, Walter Haggar, James Bamforth and James A. Williamson. The program is identical to the second volume of the Kino DVD boxset, The Movies Begin, released in the USA.

The films are accompanied by new improvised scores provided by Neil Brand, John Sweeney and Stephen Horne.

The disc includes audio commentary written by film historian Barry Salt, and a 24-page illustrated booklet with filmmaker biographies and notes.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 2 PAL DVD of this edition from Amazon.co.uk.

Other EARLY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.