The First Film

Released Sep 8, 2016

1h 50m

Biography

List

92%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

David Wilkinson spends 33 years trying to prove the world's film industry started in Leeds, England, in 1888.

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Audience Member

A conventional documentary in style, but with a very good unaccepted argument about the origins of cinema.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

In short: Fascinating research about the invention of film making, different from common knowledge Saw this at the Ghent film festival 2015. It shows interesting research and it is certainly thought provoking. Nevertheless, we know of more examples where several inventors claim to be the real and only one, e.g. printing claimed by Gutenberg (Germany) as well as Coster (Netherlands) and Martens (Belgium). Moreover, when does an inventor believe that his product is perfect enough to show the public? Trying to be too perfect may let him miss the chance to be the first, even when his model proves to be the better one after all. Also, we know that some inventions were frowned upon by authorities and hence suppressed, or became the victim of saboteurs. All such considerations count. A fact of life is that most inventions are just a child of their time, hence it is no miracle that some seem to go public nearly simultaneously. Anyway, just as the filmmaker (present before and after the screening) stated: This is a hard sell. Just to stand up against "everyone knows (...)", and the feeling that history lessons, the library and WikiPedia cannot all be wrong. So why bother. His film is a mixed collection of evidence, some convincing some just circumstantial, all of that adding up to his conviction. It is interesting to watch, while pondering by myself which other well-known inventions are wrongly attributed. Regretfully, I cannot imagine that some film distributor considers the matter worthwhile enough for a world wide release, yet the way the evidence is presented and the film maker's enthusiasm deserves more attention than I expect it to receive.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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David Wilkinson

Director

Bernard Atha

Self

Tom Courtenay

Self

Ben Eagle

Self

Aurélie Freoua

Self

Nigel Cross

Self

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

It’s a Holmes case better than many of Holmes’s. And I wouldn’t swap Wilkinson’s dapper monomania for even Sherlock’s sure-footed expertise.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 14, 2023

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Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

The doc isn't especially cinematic but you can't help but admire the dogged passion with which Wilkinson has pursued his subject.

Sep 7, 2016

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

A flickering story that blends intrigue, industrial espionage, and possibly even murder.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 5, 2015

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Pamela Hutchinson

Silent London

It's a noble quest, and I applaud Wilkinson for taking it on.

Mar 30, 2020

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Simon Kinnear

Total Film

Despite diligent research and expert help, the excitable presenter readily gives in to mythmaking, especially when conjecturing on Le Princes uncertain end.

Rated: 3/5

May 3, 2018

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Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

A personal 30-year quest by filmmaker Wilkinson to get to the bottom of an astonishing omission from film history, this documentary plays out like an urgent mystery.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 7, 2016

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Synopsis

David Wilkinson spends 33 years trying to prove the world's film industry started in Leeds, England, in 1888.

Director: David Wilkinson
Producer: Doug Abbott, Robert Worcester
Screenwriter: Irfan Shah, David Wilkinson
Distributor: Guerilla Films
Production Co: Guerilla Docs
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 8, 2016, Limited
Runtime: 1h 50m

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