Feature Films

A feature film is a film (also called a movie, motion picture or just film) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole film to fill a program. The notion of how long this should be has varied according to time and place. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute, and the British Film Institute, a feature film runs for 40 minutes or longer, while the Screen Actors Guild states that it is 80 minutes or longer.

The majority of feature films are between 70 and 210 minutes long. [The Story of the Kelly Gang] (1906, Australia) was the first dramatic feature film released (running at approximately 60 minutes). An earlier The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight (1897, U.S.) is considered by some as the first documentary feature film (running time is 100 minutes), however it is more accurately characterized as a sports program as it included the full unedited boxing match. The first feature-length adaptation was Les Misérables (1909, U.S.). Other early feature films include The Inferno (L'Inferno) (1911), Quo Vadis? (1913), Oliver Twist (1912), Richard III (1912), From the Manger to the Cross (1912), and Cleopatra (1912).

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute, and the British Film Institute all define a feature as a film with a running time of 2400 seconds (i.e. 40 minutes) or longer. The Centre National de la Cinématographie in France defines it as a 35 mm film longer than 1,600 metres (5,200 ft), which is exactly 58 minutes and 29 seconds for sound films, and the Screen Actors Guild gives a minimum running time of at least 80 minutes.

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