Let’s celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Méliès!
Georges Méliès is the inventor of special effects. Magician and creator of StarFilm, the company for which he wrote, directed, filmed and produced many movies (shot in the first French film studio, in Montreuil), he revolutionized the world of cinema with his discoveries.
This year, the ParisFX visual effects conference is organizing a round-table entitled “Georges Méliès, the inventor of visual effects,” where all the participants, from Craig Barron of Matte World Digital to Pierre Buffin of BUF, have agreed to discuss Méliès’ great influence on their work.
Like most pioneers, Méliès faced many obstacles in his undertakings, ranging from the Lumière Brothers’ refusal to sell him their camera in 1895 to Edison’s pirating of his most successful film, A Trip to the Moon, to sell it in the United States.
His story is told in the film The Extraordinary Voyage by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange, currently in theaters. This documentary precedes the release of a restored version of A Trip to the Moon, which boasts a new soundtrack by Air.
We also recommend the latest Scorsese film, Hugo Cabret, which portrays Georges Méliès after his bankruptcy, when he had destroyed his film collection and become a toy shop keeper – before being finally rehabilitated and recognized for his achievements.
The best websites about Georges Méliès:
The family’s official site: http://www.melies.eu/
French Cinémathèque: http://melies.dessin.bifi.fr/
The press kit of The Extraordinary Voyage, containing a lot of information on his life, his studio, and his crew:
http://www.unifrance.org/film/33243/le-voyage-extraordinaire/dossiers-presse (french only)
Films by Méliès: EuropaFilmTreasures.fr or Archive.org
Recommended reading from the blog of Serge Toubiana: http://blog.cinematheque.fr/?p=793 (french only)
Sébastien - unifrance.org 
