Northern Silents: Marvellous Méliès: the magician of cinema

In December 1895, a young Paris magician attended the world’s first demonstration of moving pictures – a year later Georges Méliès had built his own camera and began to experiment. Rather than simply record everyday life as many early filmmakers did, Méliès unleashed his imagination, crafting bizarre and beauty cinematic visions of angels and aliens, shooting stars and spaceships. Northern Silents, in partnership with the National Science and Media Museum, presents a curated selection of Méliès’s shorts, some painstakingly hand‑coloured, including his most famous work, A Trip to the Moon, whose rocket‑in‑the‑moon‑eye image became cinema’s first truly iconic symbol. Pianist and Northern Silents artistic director Jonny Best will introduce the films and perform a live, improvised piano accompaniment, weaving a musical tapestry that brings the 19th‑century wonder to life. Details & tickets.