Albert Kirchner

Albert Kirchner
Born	8 September 1860 Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Died	11 May 1902 (aged 41) Paris, France
Occupation(s)	Photographer, director, inventor
Notable work	Le Coucher de la Mariée,1896

Albert Kirchner(1860–1902), better known under the pseudonymLéar,was a French photographer, manufacturer, exhibitor,and filmmaker who is noted for producing several religious anderotic films.He was employed byEugène Pirou,a French filmmaker and photographer. Kirchner directed the first known erotic film, 1896Le coucher de la mariée(orBedtime for the Bride), that featured actressLouise Willy.

Film career

He also registered three patents for thefilm camera"Biographe Français Léar" in 1897–1898. He manufactured the camera by a company he himself founded along with two of his college-colleagues – Anthelme and Pacon. Kirchner produced and marketed two variants of "Biographe" — one for35 mm filmand the other for 60 mm film. In 1897, he arranged screenings at multiple locations that included the Oller Museum and the café Frontin in French capital Paris.

In partnership with Michel Coissac, who later became a well-known film historian, Kirchner directed the filmPassion du Christ(The Passion of Christ)in twelve scenes in 1897. Shot in Paris, it was the first film made based on the story in the Bible. The film, 5 minutes long, was shown in a large number of regions. This film created influence among contemporary film directors and many of them adopted its theme. However some people were angry over the depiction of Christ.Passion du Christmade Kirchner the first filmmaker to direct a film about the life of Christ.Kirchner madePassion du Christon behalf of aRoman Catholicpublishing company, La Bonne Presse.

Researcher Stephen Bottomore inWho's Who of Victorian Cinema: A Worldwide Surveysuggested Albert Kirchner may be the person behind Lear and Co., a company inEgypt's capitalCairo,which faced prosecution for exporting pornographic pictures to Europe in the year 1901. Assuming Léar is Kirchner, in 1898 in the basement of theOlympiaTheatre, he created a cinema. That same year,Gaumont Film Company,a French film production company, bought all of his negatives. The cinema closed shortly after this and he died.