Cinema was born as a scientific endeavour before becoming a commercial medium. Jules Janssen, an astronomer, and Étienne-Jules Marey, a physiologist at the Collège de France with a keen interest in the flight of birds, were pioneers as early as 1874, long before the Lumière brothers’ first public screening in 1895.

Alexis Martinet, a former physicist at the CNRS and Vice-President of the Institut de cinématographie scientifique, will give a talk exploring the history and key issues of scientific cinema, at the intersection of research, technology and audiovisual creation.

Through examples from physics, the talk will show how moving images have made it possible to reveal phenomena invisible to the naked eye, slow down or speed up time, and transform our perception of the world around us.

This talk will also explore the historical links between experimental cinema, technological innovation and scientific research, while highlighting the legacy of major figures such as Dr Eugène Doyen, Jean Painlevé and the pioneers of scientific cinema.