The Lumi\u00e8re Festival (Festival Lumi\u00e8re) is one of the world’s great celebrations of classic cinema, held each October in Lyon \u2014 the very city where, in 1895, the Lumi\u00e8re brothers invented the cinematograph and shot the first films. Founded in 2009 and run by the Institut Lumi\u00e8re, the festival is a week-long homage to film heritage, showing beautifully restored classics, hosting premieres, retrospectives, exhibitions, film concerts and masterclasses, and welcoming great names of world cinema. Its centrepiece is the prestigious Lumi\u00e8re Award, given each year to a major figure of the film world. The 2026 edition \u2014 the 18th \u2014 takes place from 10 to 18 October, with the Lumi\u00e8re Award going to the Coen Brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the week, more than 450 screenings fill some forty cinemas across Lyon and the surrounding metropolis, from grand restored masterpieces and silent films with live musical accompaniment to tributes, themed retrospectives and rediscovered gems, often introduced by the film-makers and stars themselves. The festival is famous for its warm, cinephile atmosphere and its access to legends of cinema, who give masterclasses and receive the Lumi\u00e8re Award at a gala ceremony. At its heart is the Institut Lumi\u00e8re, on the site of the original Lumi\u00e8re factory and family villa in the 8th arrondissement, where the world’s first film was shot \u2014 now a museum of cinema that is well worth visiting in its own right. Screenings and events also take place in the historic Halle Tony Garnier and cinemas around the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lyon is France’s second city, in the Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes region, reached by TGV in about two hours from Paris and served by its own international airport; the Institut Lumi\u00e8re and most festival venues are easily reached by the city’s metro and tram network. In 2026 the Lumi\u00e8re Festival runs from 10 to 18 October. Screenings and masterclasses are ticketed, with individual tickets and festival passes available, and popular sessions and the Lumi\u00e8re Award ceremony sell out quickly, so booking ahead is advisable. The festival is a wonderful excuse to explore Lyon \u2014 its UNESCO-listed old town, its Renaissance traboules and its celebrated cuisine \u2014 and it pairs naturally with a visit to the Institut Lumi\u00e8re’s museum.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lyon’s celebration of classic cinema \u2014 a week of restored films, premieres and masterclasses staged where the Lumi\u00e8re brothers invented the movies, culminating in the prestigious Lumi\u00e8re Award.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1072,387,964],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-auvergne-rhone-alpes","category-events","category-france"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16412,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16229\/revisions\/16412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotonmap.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}