From misattribution to missing sound, this conversation with Frank Kessler has a bit of lamentation for the lost works and context of early cinema. But there's also some celebration that we can view any films from the turn of the century (and earlier), including his picks that include trickery and evolving film language.

Frank is professor in media history at Utrecht University. His research activities concern mainly the field of early cinema and visual media in the 19th and early 20th century. His work includes the research program "The Nation and Its Other" and he acted as project leader and editor for A Million Pictures: Magic Lantern Slides in the History of Learning.

Films and resources mentioned:

• The One-Man Band (1900) - Georges Méliès
• Attack on a China Mission (1900) - James Williamson
• Grandma's Reading Glass (1900) - George Albert Smith
• The Cabbage Fairy (1900) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• Hamlet (1900) - Clément Maurice
• A Railway Collision (1900) - Walter R. Booth
• San Francisco Earthquake & Fire: April 18, 1906 (1906) - unknown
• The Dreyfus Affair (1899) - Georges Méliès
• A Sneaky Boer (1901) - unknown
• The Cabbage Fairy (1896) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• Hugo (2011) - Martin Scorsese
• Rescued by Rover (1905) - Cecil Hepworth
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1900) - Clément Maurice
• Alice Guy Films a ‘Phonoscène’ in the Studio at Buttes-Chaumont, Paris (1907) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• 'They thought it was a marvel' : Arthur Melbourne-Cooper (1874-1961) : pioneer of puppet animation (2009) - Tjitte de Vries and Ati Mul
• Women Film Pioneers Project