“In April 1908, Pathé Frères distributed his first newsreel, first under the name of Pathé Faits Divers, then with that which then remains until 1976, Pathé Journal. At first it was monthly, then it became weekly; the Pathé Journal, in English, American, German and Russian editions became a daily in 1913.

In 1912, Pathé opens at 6 Bvd Saint-Denis, Paris one of the first halls dedicated exclusively to the projection of newsreels. However, the notion of newsreel is not new. Since 1899 in the rooms under Pathé’s control, there are films of sports events or politics. In 1901, perhaps imitating Méliès, Pathé proposes his news in the fifth series entitled Scènes historiques, politiques et d’actualités this lasts until 1906. The increasing public demand for “venus d’ailleurs” films will lead firstly the English, then the French to become more interested in the news, even the most ephemeral, which make up the Pathé Journal’s summaries. Until 1920, the number of Pathé Journal which have survived destruction are extremely rare. We will present two examples here. One Pathé Journal of 1913, of June or July, which with its 122 m, lasts for about seven minutes. From the summary, which contains 12 films, we must remember an exercise. From a Pathé Journal shown in Holland and saved by the NFM. We will also present those which seem to be news which has survived the destruction, and which are conserved in the archives of the Pathé Télévision like Les obsèques de Léon Tolstoi, probably filmed by a Pathé operator named Joseph Mundiviller and called Georges Meyer; Une course de coolies en Extrême-Orient or the famous Traversée de la Manche par Blériot which, as the Comoedia newspaper reported, was ‘présenté le soir même de l’exploit’”. (Henry Bousquet)