Animated into Being

First Dressed Bodies in Motion

+ Introduction + Live Music

Sunday 6 December 2026, 14:00

Ciné Lumière

TICKETS

How were some of the first moving-image bodies dressed, displayed and set in motion? This unique screening brings together pioneering works in cinema, photography, proto-animation and scientific experimentation to explore dress at the intersection of still and moving image. From Émile Reynaud’s praxinoscope and the motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey to dance, trick films and urban scenes, it follows bodies ‘animated’ by a range of cinematic and pre-cinematic devices. Though not fashion films or photographs in any straightforward sense, these works reveal clothing as a practical instrument, visual attraction, curiosity and even special effect. Featuring films by Demeny, Nadar, Pathé, Edison, Méliès, Jan Kříženecký, James Williamson as well as reanimated photographs and film strips by Muybridge and Marey, the programme presents the dressed body as measured, performed, observed and transformed.

With an introduction by Marketa Uhlirova and Émilie Cauquy.

Live musical accompaniment by multi-instrumentalist Stephen Horne.

Dedicated to cinema scholar Tom Gunning, the programme is curated by Marketa Uhlirova and organised in collaboration with Émilie Cauquy (Cinémathèque française). With special thanks to Laurent Mannoni and participating film archives.

Stephen Horne is a silent film accompanist and composer. Principally a pianist, he also incorporates flute, accordion and percussion into his performances, sometimes playing instruments simultaneously. He performs internationally at festivals including Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, Il Cinema Ritrovato and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. He has composed scores for The First Born, The Manxman and Stella Dallas, alongside numerous recordings for silent film releases.

Marketa Uhlirova is the Director of the Fashion in Film Festival. Her work explores the intersections between fashion, art, and the moving image. She has curated film programmes for arts and cinema venues internationally and published books including the award-winning Birds of Paradise: Costume as Cinematic Spectacle (2013). Her recent projects include the article ‘The Outskirts: Film at the Edges of Fashion’ and the co-curated film season GROUNDED: Fashion’s Entanglements with Nature.

Émilie Cauquy is responsible for promoting the film collection of the Cinémathèque française. As project manager for the Henri VOD platform, she has created enhanced projections in the form of ciné-spectacles, centred on Dulac, Musidora and Méliès and, additionally, has curated programmes on Colette, Musidora, Marie Epstein and Nicole Vedrès for the II Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna. Also involved in DVD publishing, she co-produced the Jean Epstein box set for Potemkine.