Short Films: before 1894

Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) was directed by Louis le Prince and is only about 2 seconds long. It is thought to be the first motion picture and is the earliest surviving film:


Monkeyshines (1889 or 1890) is the first film shot in the U.S.A.: (4/25/2010: I can no longer find this online.)

Dickson Greeting (1891), embedded below, was directed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson and is about 3 seconds of greeting by Mr. Dickson. According to the wikipedia article, it is the first film to be exhibited in public. The youtube page quotes the New York Sun report of the event:

....As they looked through this hole they saw the picture of a man. It was a most marvellous picture. It bowed and smiled and waved its hands and took off its hat with the most perfect naturalness and grace. Every motion was perfect. There was not a hitch or a jerk. No wonder Edison chuckled at the effect he produced with his Kinetograph.

Newark Athlete (1891):
part 1
part 2
part 3

Blacksmiths (1893):