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Patineur Grotesque
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The
Marius Sestier Collection
Press Clippings
'Under the direction of M. Marius Sestier'
The discovery of two films made in Australia by frères Lumière representative Marius Sestier in 1896 has significance to all Australians.
In 2005 Coralie Martin, an intern of the National Film and Sound Archive‘s Scholarly and Academic Research program assessed the NFSA’s holdings of frères Lumière films against the holdings of the Centre National de la Cinematographie (CNC) in France. Coralie identified two films made in Australia by frères Lumière representative Marius Sestier in 1896 which were not in the NFSA’s Collection.
The NFSA undertook negotiations with the CNC for copies of the films and they arrived in May 2006. One film was from the Melbourne Cup Carnival Series shot in Melbourne in 1896 and was added to the titles already held. The other was of a burlesque (comic) roller skater also made in 1896.
The Melbourne Cup film was readily identified as Weighing in for the Cup, in which the jockeys ride their horses to the weighing room on the Flemington racecourse and are weighed for correct weight before the race. The second film of a roller skater, Patineur Grotesque, was unknown to NFSA curators as there has been no previous mention of this film in Australia.
Film curator, Sally Jackson, began a project to research Patineur Grotesque and in the process has gathered much new information about Marius Sestier’s time in Australia, in India and his life in France. This work provides the basis for a celebration of the man who brought the cinema to Australia and will culminate in a monograph about Marius Sestier, his life and work, and those people he influenced.
The research methodology first applied has been to substantiate or debunk current accepted knowledge of this period in Australian film history and follow research paths as they became apparent. To do this examination of original documents in Australia and France, pouring through contemporary newspapers and magazines, linking names through genealogical processes was undertaken and has revealed a much different story to what we know.
In 2008 contact was made with Marius Sestier’s descendants who will visit in March 2010 bringing with them their great grandfather’s papers and photographs. This historic visit will be marked by an event, Salon Lumière, on Wednesday March 17, 2010 in the NFSA’s ARC cinema.
As part of this project the NFSA will conserve, scan and preserve the documents and photographs. The documents will be translated in preparation for further research before being made available to the public. The NFSA will also preserve its original format frères Lumière films which can be linked back to Marius Sestier and the first days of film in Australia.
Photo: Marius Sestier
Portrait (Photographer H.Walter Barnett, Falk Studios, Sydney 1896)
NFSA Marius Sestier Collection
Courtesy Madame Marie-Dominique Petitbois, Messrs Robert Sestier et Bernard Jeune
