September 1896 saw the arrival in Sydney of the first Lumiere agent, Marius Sestier, who held the sole franchise for Lumiere equipment in Australia. H Walter Barnett was his Australian business manager.
Sestier and Barnett opened Australia’s first auditorium devoted entirely to the showing of films. Their “Salon Lumiere”, as it was called, opened 28 September 1896, at 237 Pitt Street, Sydney. At first it showed films shot in Paris the previous year.
By the end of October Sestier and Barnett decided to put their camera-printer-projector to more practical use. In late September and early October they filmed experimental footage around the shores of Sydney Harbour. This was the first motion picture film to be exposed in Australia. The material was made up into several shorts, each of around sixty feet. The most successful of these, Passengers Alighting from Ferry Brighton at Manly, showed people leaving the ferry and walking along Manly Pier. Exhibition was delayed until after Sestier had filmed the 1896 Melbourne Cup, and it was then shown as a supporting feature at showings at the Criterion Theatre and then in December 1896, 478 George Street, Sydney. However, it is not known if any copies of this pioneering footage survive.
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