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What Was the First Movie Ever Made? The Story of Roundhay Garden Scene

Filmed by Louis Le Prince in Leeds in 1888, Roundhay Garden Scene is widely identified as the oldest surviving motion-picture film. Here’s what the fragment shows and why other “first movie” claims use different criteria.
Opened Runtime2 min Written byDocumentaryTube Team
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The best-supported answer is Roundhay Garden Scene, filmed by Louis Le Prince in Leeds, England, in 1888. The Science Museum Group describes it as the oldest surviving film in existence. More precisely, it is the earliest surviving motion-picture film—not necessarily the first movie by every possible definition of “first.”

What is Roundhay Garden Scene?

Louis Le Prince filmed the scene with a single-lens camera he made in Leeds. The Science Museum Group dates the filming to 14 October 1888; its collection record describes the footage more broadly as shot in October that year. The scene shows Joseph and Sarah Whitley, their son Adolphe Le Prince, and Harriet Hartley walking in the garden of the Whitleys’ home. The museum explains that they walked in a circle to remain within the fixed camera’s view. Science Museum Group: Le Prince’s camera; National Science and Media Museum: film resources

What survives today?

The surviving record is fragmentary, not a complete, intact original film. The Science Museum Group’s glass copy negative was made in the 1930s from Le Prince’s original paper negatives; the museum’s resource page describes the footage as photographic copies of paper prints. Its catalogue calls the scene a sequence from possibly the earliest surviving film taken by Le Prince. Science Museum Group: glass copy negative

A pair of surviving frames bears an inscription attributed to Adolphe Le Prince. The inscription says the series was taken early in October 1888 and gives a rate of 10 to 12 frames per second. That is the inscription’s report, not a verified modern measurement of the entire surviving sequence. Science Museum Group: two frames from Roundhay Garden Scene

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Why do accounts name other “first movies”?

“First movie” can refer to different milestones. The evidence supports Roundhay Garden Scene as the earliest surviving motion-picture film, but that does not settle questions about the first copyright registration, public screening, or commercial exhibition.

Criterion Film or milestone What the source establishes
Earliest surviving motion-picture film Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) The Science Museum Group calls it the oldest surviving film in existence. Science Museum Group
Earliest copyrighted film that still survives Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, also known as Fred Ott’s Sneeze (January 7, 1894) The Library of Congress identifies it as the earliest copyrighted film that still survives. This is a separate copyright-and-survival category, not evidence that it predates Le Prince’s 1888 footage. Library of Congress: Early Motion Picture Productions
First projection, public screening, or commercial exhibition Not established here The sources cited here do not provide a comprehensive ranking for these milestones.
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How to watch a documentary about Le Prince

The Irish Film Institute lists The First Film, a documentary about Le Prince, his 1888 camera, and the surviving Roundhay Garden and Leeds Bridge fragments. Its listing is a useful starting point for finding information about the documentary; it does not establish current availability on a particular platform. Irish Film Institute: The First Film

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