Le président en promenade
About Le président en promenade
Porfirio Díaz, president of Mexico, rides a horse through the woods of Chapultepec. Several of his ministers ride with him. The camera holds on the group. There is no staged action beyond the ride.
Cast & crew
More about Le président en promenade
Gabriel Veyre, a Lumière technician, shot the view in Mexico and had it processed in France. Claude Ferdinand Bon Bernard, the Lumière concessionaire for Mexico, is credited with him on the photography. Spanish Wikipedia calls this the first film shot in Mexico. A letter from Veyre to his mother, dated by August 16, 1896, says the picture had been made.
Themes
Background
The private show at Chapultepec Castle on August 6, 1896, was the first cinematograph screening in Mexico. The horseback view of Díaz followed it.
Making
Veyre was the Lumière company's technical director in Mexico. Bon Bernard held the commercial concession for the cinematograph there.
Look
Gabriel Veyre and Claude Ferdinand Bon Bernard photographed Díaz on horseback in the Bosque de Chapultepec. The view is a single outdoor take.
Preservation
A print survives and circulates under the Spanish title.
Notes
- The Spanish title is El presidente de la república paseando a caballo en el bosque de Chapultepec. Le président en promenade is the French title.
- On August 6, 1896, Veyre and Bon Bernard gave a private cinematograph show at Chapultepec Castle for Díaz, his family, and about forty guests. It ran until 1 a.m. on August 7. The horseback view was made after that screening.
- A different Lumière view, El Presidente de la República en carruaje regresando a Chapultepec, shows Díaz returning by carriage. El Correo Español of Mexico described that view on November 28, 1896. It is not this film.
Scenes
- Díaz rides through the Chapultepec woods with his ministers.
