The First Motion Picture in Jerusalem - 1897

Scene from first movie

Railroad Station (1900)

Auguste Lumière and Louis Lumière were photographic inventors who began to experiment with motion pictures in the early 1890s. 

The Frenchmen's first footage was recorded in March 1895.  In 1897, they produced the first motion picture made in the Holy Land, a 51-second film from a train leaving Jerusalem  station.   

Click on the picture  to see the film or view an annotated version of the film which answers the question, "Who were the residents of Jerusalem when the film was made?" 

[Do not adjust the sound on your computer; this is a silent movie.]

Note in the background the windmill in the Jewish neighborhood of Yemin Moshe built by Moses Montefiore in 1860.