Cinema of Europe

Cinema of Europe refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Europe.

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.

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