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Cinema of Europe refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Europe.
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Europeans were the pioneers of the motion picture industry, with several innovative engineers and artists making an impact especially at the end of the 19th century. Louis Le Prince became famous for his 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene, the first known celluloid film recorded. The Skladanowsky brothers from Berlin used their "Bioscop" to amaze the Wintergarten theatre audience with the first film show ever, from November 1 through 31, 1895. The Lumière Brothers established the Cinematograph; which initiated the silent film era, a period where European cinema was a major commercial success. It remained so until the art-hostile environment of World War II.
Notable European early film movements include German Expressionism (1920s), Soviet Montage (1920s), French Impressionist Cinema (1920s), Poetic realism (1930s), and Italian neorealism (1940s); it was a period now seen in retrospect as "The Other Hollywood". The first large-scale film studio was also established in Europe, with the Babelsberg Studio near Berlin in 1912.
Post World War II movements include Free Cinema (1950s), French New Wave (1950s–60s), Polish Film School (1950s–60s), Czechoslovak New Wave (1960s), New German Cinema (1960s–80s), British New Wave (1950s–60s), Spaghetti Western (1960s) and Novo Cinema (1960s–70s). The turn of the 21st century has seen movements such as Dogme 95, New French Extremity and the Romanian New Wave.
19th century
Antoine Lumière realized, on 28 December 1895, the first projection, with the Cinematograph, in Paris. In 1897, Georges Méliès established the first cinema studio on a rooftop property in Montreuil, near Paris.
20th century
The European Film Academy was founded in 1988 to celebrate European cinema through the European Film Awards annually.
Philippe Binant realised, on 2 February 2000, the first digital cinema projection in Europe, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments, in Paris.
Founded in 1992 with funding from the MEDIA programme Creative Europe and from the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée CNC, France, Europa Cinemas is the first film theatre network focusing on European films. Its objective is to provide operational and financial support to cinemas that commit themselves to screen a significant number of European non-national films, to offer events and initiatives as well as promotional activities targeted at Young Audiences. Thanks to the support of Eurimages and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the influence of Europa Cinemas extends to Eastern European countries, to the Balkans, to Russia and to Turkey.
Europa Cinemas in 2016: 41 countries, 644 cities, 1,078 cinemas, 2,648 screens MEDIA: 33 countries, 602 cities, 1,014 cinemas, 2,428 screens EURIMAGES: 3 countries, 37 cities, 58 cinemas, 205 screens MAE: 5 countries, 5 cities, 6 cinemas, 15 screens