NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CINEMA: all year
 

The innovative and spectacular lay-out of the museum, arranged over five different levels with balconies spiralling around the inside of the dome and leading down to a lofty auditorium at the heart of the structure, is the work of François Confino and merits a visit in itself.
The first room of the museum traces the origins of cinema, giving you the chance to try out objects such as magic lanterns and optic boxes, and details the progress of photographic and cinematic inventions which eventually led to the depiction of movement. This part of the exhibition ends, appropriately, with some projections of the Lumière brothers's works, two of the most seminal innovators in the history of cinema.
From there, take the lift to the lofty heights of the dome where the exhibitions continue in a section devoted to the machinery of cinema. Divided into different niches, you will find a whole host of fascinating objects, photographs and artefacts on display which explain the different stages involved in the process of making a film, from its initial conception, to the technicalities of its creation to the post-production stages, its distribution and showing in public cinemas.
At this point you can brave the vertiginous spiral staircase, taking in a selection of the museum's considerable poster collection (over 200.000 in total) along the way- the selection currently on display comes from the Cinematèque Française- before reaching the heart of the building which is the vast auditorium. You'll be grateful for the chance to sink into one of the hall's sofas, admire the view and watch the two 35mm films that are projected continuously.To end this suitably spectacular journey through the history of the so-called seventh art, visit the 10 ?thematic chapels" (smaller exhibition rooms ) which surround the auditorium, each one dedicated to a cinematic genre.

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