Online publication of the illustrated catalogue of cinema equipment held by the Cinémathèque Française and the CNC

Thanks in large part to its generous donors, the Cinémathèque française has, since 1936, amassed one of the best collections of cameras in the world. Amongst its most prestigious holdings are the cameras belonging to Etienne-Jules Marey, Louis Lumière, Georges Méliès, the Chronomégaphone and the Chronochrome Gaumont, the Vitaphone projector and loudspeaker, Jean-Pierre Beauviala’s archives and Aaton equipment (including Godard’s “8-35”), Panavision cameras, as well as most of the equipment produced by Pathé, Gaumont, Éclair, Debrie, Kudelski, Ernemann, Arriflex, Mitchell, Bell & Howell, Thomson, etc. The collection truly became world-class in 1959, when the Cinémathèque, thanks to André Malraux, who had just been named Minister of State in charge of cultural affairs, was able to acquire the fabulous collection belonging to English historian and technician Will Day (1873-1936).

In 1996, the first catalogue of the collection of equipment was published under the title Le Mouvement continue, Catalogue illustré de la collection des appareils de la Cinémathèque française, (Milan-Paris, Mazzotta – Cinémathèque française, Musée du cinéma, 1996), containing the description of 1,460 pieces. This book has long been out of print and is impossible to find.

In 1997, the Centre national du cinéma handed over its own collection of old equipment to the Cinémathèque française for safekeeping. The combined collections of the Cinémathèque and the CNC form a coherent ensemble, since they complement one another, and tell the story of the quasi-international development of cinematographic technology.
After 1997, acquisitions began again, with, for example, Jac Remise’s famous collection of optical games. The institution’s active fundraising has paid off: in 1997 and 1998, Kodak-Pathé and the Société française de production donated hundreds of pieces of equipment. Jean-Pierre Beauvala, founder of the Aaton corporation, became a regular and generous donor. Cineaste Jacques Perrin gave the Cinémathèque the prototypes that were used on the turbulent shooting of Oceans (2010).

Thanks to these purchases and gifts, our goal is to group together the unique pieces of equipment and reconstitute the full range of equipment produced by some major French and foreign manufacturers: Pathé (Continsouza), Éclair (Jean Méry and André Coutant), Debrie, Gaumont, Kudelski, Ernemann, Lumière, Mitchell, Arriflex, Angénieux, Thomson, Aaton – whose full range we possess, from Camera n° 1 produced for the ORTF (1972) to the Penelope hybride (2010). The end of the year 2013 was marked by the acquisition, via the CNC, of Jean-Pierre Verscheure’s collection (projectors, sound systems, projection lenses). And the year 2014 was also very fruitful, thanks especially to Bernard Tichit’s gift of a very substantial collection of cameras.

This online catalogue should be considered a work in progress, an endless project that must be constantly enriched and improved (especially thanks to the help of internet users). This project does not contain the entire collection, because it is in constant growth and evolution (we currently estimate that there are about 6.000 pieces of equipment in our holdings).
4.200 illustrated pages are currently available. This tool, which will be periodically updated, will contribute, we hope, to the historiography of cinematographic technology, to better understanding the relationship between esthetics and technics, and to help conserve these precious machines.

(Source: Cinémathèque Française)
Consult the catalogue of cinematographic equipment held by the Cinémathèque Française and the CNC