The Pearl Fisher (Le Pêcheur de Perles)

France, 1907. Director Ferdinand Zecca, Pathé Frères.

A diver encounters strange and marvellous creatures in an underwater kingdom. The final apotheosis sequence boasts remarkable sets festooned with strings of pearls that recall Melies’s Orientalist décors for The Palace of Arabian Nights (1905).

Past screenings

Birds of Paradise – London
Friday 3 December 2010, 18:30 | Tate Modern
Presented as a part of the programme ‘Underground Opulence,’ with live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne.

Birds of Paradise – New York
Friday 15 April 2011, 19:00 | Museum of the Moving Image

Fashion Film / Early Film – Copenhagen
Saturday 14 May 2011, 19:00 | Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre