On December 28, 1895, the Lumière brothers organized the first public, paid screening of the cinematograph at the Grand Café in Paris. The films shown included La sortie de l’usine Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon) and L’arroseur arrosé (The Sprinkler Sprinkled), the first fictional film.

To mark the 130th anniversary of cinema, the Palace is hosting the Origins of Cinema exhibition, tracing the evolution of early projection devices, from the magic lantern to the first Pathé Frères projectors and the Lumière cinematograph.

Before becoming the seventh art, cinema underwent a series of devices of varying sizes. The exhibition opens with a series of magic lanterns, rudimentary projection devices that already took viewers on a journey through illustrated stories. Long considered mere toys or fairground attractions, they nevertheless constitute one of the technical and cultural foundations of cinema.

The exhibition also looks at experiments conducted across the Atlantic with Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. Offering an individual viewing experience through a peephole, this device preceded collective projection and demonstrates the many avenues explored in the early days of cinema.

Technical developments progressed rapidly. From the Lumière cinematograph to the Pathé brothers' first professional projector, an entire industrial sector took shape. The exhibition presents some sixty devices, accessories, and images from the period and draws on the collection and encyclopedic knowledge of Jean-Pierre Verscheure, a historian of cinema techniques and regular contributor to the Palace.

The experience is not limited to the display cases. Several events will allow you to (re)discover the original conditions of projection—notably through demonstrations of the Lumière Cinematograph—or to learn more about the evolution of image and sound techniques.

An accompanying program will take you on a journey through different formats and media, silent and sound films, and narrative genres from the simplest to the most sophisticated. From still and flickering images to restored masterpieces, the exhibition and its program invite you to rediscover the birth of an art form that, in just over a century, has never stopped reinventing itself.

LUMIERE, L'AVENTURE CONTINUE by Thierry Frémaux
In the presence of the director

17/03 – 8:30 PM – FR VERSION NL SUB

Club 35: SEVEN CHANCES (35mm) by Buster Keaton

19/03 – 7:00 PM – NO DIAL

Family Time – ANIMATED CLASSIC SHORTS (35mm)
Compilation of vintage cartoons

29/03 – 2:00 PM - NO DIAL

Be Curious: MORT A VIGNOLE + SOUVENIRS D'UN AMI
Discussion: From film to AI, Olivier Smolders (director) & Louis De Diesbach (philosopher)
In partnership with the General Administration of Culture of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Sonuma

09/04 – 7:00 PM – FR VERSION

Masterclass: ARCHIPELS NITRATE by Claudio Pazienza
Discussion: Julien Contreau on film editing

16/04 – 6:30 PM – FR VERSION EN SUB

THE ARTIST (35mm) by Michel Hazanavicius

02/05 – 7:00 PM – NO DIAL

10/05 – 2:15 PM – NO DIAL

LE VOYAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange

07/05 – 7:00 PM – FR VERSION NL SUB

ALICE GUY: A PIONEER OF CINEMA
Selection of short films

23/05 – 7:00 PM – NO DIAL

Family Time – CLASSIC SHORTS - Vol 2 (35mm)

31/05 – 2:00 PM - NO DIAL

Be Curious – BROKEN VIEW by Hannes Verhoustraete
In the presence of the director

04/06 – 7:00 PM – FR VERSION NL/EN SUB

BABYLON by Damien Chazelle

13/06 – 8:45 PM – OV FR/NL SUB

Lecture: The History of Technicolor, J.P. Verscheure

14/04 – 7:00 PM – FRENCH  

Lecture: From Pathé Palace to Palace – the history of a transformation, Alain Richard (architect)

05/05 – 7:00 PM – FRENCH

30/05 – 11:00 AM – FRENCH

Lecture: From Edison and Lumière to the last photochemical processes, J.P. Verscheure

07/06 – 7:00 PM – FRENCH

Children's workshop : Magic Lantern

11/04 – 10:00 AM - FRENCH 

13/06 – 10:00 AM - FRENCH

Lumière Cinematograph
Screening of Lumière films with a period projector

12/04 – 2:00 PM – NO DIAL

17/05 – 2:00 PM – NO DIAL

14/06 – 2:00 PM – NO DIAL

Guided tours of the exhibition are available upon request. 
For more information and reservations: +32 2 503 57 96 or info@cinema-palace.be

EXPO HOURS

OPEN 7/7 

11:00-21:30

EXHIBITION VISIT RATES

Price: FREE ENTRY

The usual prices for the cinema sessions remain unchanged.

For Lumière cinematograph screenings: €9/€5

For conferences: €9/€5

For children's workshops: €4

HOW TO GET TO PALACE

Public Transport 

• By metro: lines 1 & 5 station De Brouckère.
• By tram: lines 3, 4 & 32 tramstop Bourse/ Beurs.
• By bus: lines 29, 66, 71 & 86 busstop De Brouckère or line 95 busstop Bourse/Beurs. 
• By train, Brussels North and Brussels Midi are at 20 minutes by foot, and Brussels Central Station is at 10 minutes by foot.

Villo! 

The 3 Villostations closest to Palace :

• Station n° 4 - JARDIN AUX FLEURS 
  Place du Jardin aux fleurs - Rue des 6 Jetons, 7
   
• Station n° 5 - BOURSE
   Rue Paul Delvaux
   
• Station n° 32 - DANSAERT
  Rue Antoine Dansaert, 60-62-64

Billy Bike

Shared electric bikes you can pick up and drop off anywhere in Brussels.
Download the app BILLY and get 20 minutes free with the code PALACE! 
More info: https://billy.bike/

By car:

5 parkings closeby :

• PARKING ROUPPE-FONTAINAS (HÔTEL BEDFORD)
  Bd Maurice Lemonnier, 10 - 1000 Bruxelles
  24/24 – 7/7 – +32 2 507 00 76 – parking.rouppe@hobinvest.be
   
• INTERPARKING MONNAIE
  Place de la Monnaie, 25 - 1000 Bruxelles
  24/24 – 7/7 – +32 2 549 54 54 – monnaie-munt@interparking.com
   
• INTERPARKING DE BROUCKÈRE
  Place De Brouckère, 1 - 1000 Bruxelles
  24/24 – 7/7 – +32 2 549 54 54 – debrouckere@interparking.com
   
• INTERPARKING ALHAMBRA
  Bd Emile Jacqmain, 14 - 1000 Bruxelles
  24/24 – 7/7 – +32 2 549 54 54 – Alhambra@interparking.com
   
• Q-PARK DANSAERT
  Place du Nouveau Marché aux grains, 2 - 1000 Bruxelles
  24/24 – 7/7 – +32 2 711 17 00

ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH REDUCED MOBILITY

All of our areas have been optimalized to welcome persons with reduced mobility.