What is National Short Film Day?

National Short Film Day, December 28th, commemorates the day the motion picture industry was born, when the Lumière brothers unveiled a series of short films to a public audience for the first time.

Two brothers in 1895 at the Grand Café in Paris sparked the world's love of cinema. In a paying audience of 33 people, Auguste and Louis Lumière brought the fascination to life first. The film pioneers premiered ten short films on the day, each about 50 seconds in length, on the day. The brothers caught everyday life on film and brought them back as moving images to the amazement of all those in attendance. That day, "watching movies" came alive. And it all started with those first ten short films.

Short films are now available in a variety of genres, lengths, and styles. Animation, fantasy, comedies, and drama are all entertaining us. They also inform and educate us through documentary subjects that may have never heard before, giving us insight into real-life stories we may have never heard before.

In short, short films continue to move us, just as they did the first time over 120 years ago!