The first appearance of a robot on film has made its way to the Library of Congress

"The inquiry was like thousands of others. Somebody had potentially cool films they thought might interest the Library of Congress. But it was brand new for Jason Evans Groth... In September, he stepped outside the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, to meet Bill and Mary McFarland, who had driven from Michigan with about 40 strips of celluloid that had once belonged to Bill's great-grandfather."

"Georges Melies, a French filmmaker slash magician, who realized before audiences did that film edits could make things appear and disappear on screen... He kind of 'discovered' - I'm doing air quotes. He discovered special effects. He also founded the Star Film Company, and there's a star on a pedestal in this film."

A 45-second film strip created by pioneering filmmaker Georges Melies in 1897 has been recovered and added to the Library of Congress collection. The film was discovered when Michigan residents Bill and Mary McFarland brought approximately 40 strips of celluloid film to the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. The reels had belonged to Bill's great-grandfather and were initially unknown to the curators. Upon examination, archivists identified the Melies film as featuring an early robot character, making it arguably the first robot science fiction story committed to film. Melies, a French filmmaker and magician, was known for pioneering special effects techniques through film editing, allowing objects and characters to appear and disappear on screen.

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