Media Release

A remarkable 60 second film shot at the 1896 Melbourne Cup has been rediscovered by the National Film and Sound Archive.

The film entitled Weighing in for the Cup is part of the Lumiere collection Cup Carnival series shot by roving Lumiere cameraman Marius Sestier on November 3 1896. It features a large crowd outside the Flemington racecourse weighing room as they watch the jockeys ride up to be weighed before the race.

It is known that Sestier, assisted by Australian still photographer Walter Barnett, shot between 10 and 15 one–minute films at the 1896 Cup, but only six films from the Cup Carnival series held by the NFSA were believed to have survived. Weighing in for the Cup was rediscovered when a colleague from France, Coralie Martin, participated in the NFSA Scholars and Artists in Residence (SAR) program and began to research the NFSA’s collection of Lumiere films.

During her research Coralie discovered that an 1896 film held by the Centre National Cinematographe for the Association Frères Lumière in Paris had been shot in Australia. A copy of the film was shipped to Australia where NFSA staff identified it as being part of the 1896 Cup Carnival series.

“We are very excited that this collaboration has led to the rediscovery of this film”, said Paolo Cherchi Usai, the NFSA’s Executive Director. “Weighing in for the Cup provides a unique insight into the Cup 112 years ago and is a superb complement to the other six films from the Cup Carnival series currently held by the NFSA.”

Most of the existing Cup Carnival series had been part of the NFSA’s Lumiere collection holdings. The Lumieres were French filmmaking brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere who in 1895 revolutionised film exhibition through their invention of the cinematographe, which was both camera and projector. In 1896 the brothers sent representatives around the world, including Australia, to show and shoot films.

Research indicates that Weighing in for the Cup, along with the other 1896 Lumiere Melbourne Cup films, was regularly exhibited around Australia between November 1896 and mid–1897.

Video grabs and pics from the film are available. Interviews can be arranged.

For media enquiries please contact Heather Millard, Manager, Marketing and Communications on (02) 6248 2101, 0418 417 600 or heather.millard@nfsa.gov.au.

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1. 1896 Melbourne Cup Footage Rediscovered