World's First Color Film Footage Viewed for First Time

Michael Harvey from the National Media Museum and Bryony Dixon from the British Film Institute talk about the importance of the discovery.

The previous earliest color film, using the Kinemacolour process, was thought to date from 1909 and was actually an inferior method.

The newly-discovered films were made by pioneer Edward Raymond Turner from London who patented his color process on March 22,1899.

The story of Edwardian color cinema then moved to Brighton. Turner shot the test films in 1902, but his pioneering work ended abruptly when he died suddenly of a heart attack.

Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archives, said the 1902 footage was of international significance for the cinema world.

"There's something about watching film in color that deceives you into believing it's more real; so to see this from 110 years ago adds something very substantial.

"It's really quite beautiful."

The film has been restored by the National Media Museum, and is being shown to audiences for the first time.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk