In 1895, Louis and August Lumiere patented the Cinematographe, a box-like device that not only worked as a camera, but processed the film it took, and doubled as a projector. The first films of the Lumiere brothers ranged from charming little scenes of Fin de Siecle French life – women with babies, trains arriving – to exotic shots taken in remote regions of the world. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Lumiere’s invention, French television producers gave 40 of the world’s best filmmakers – or at least those brave enough to take the challenge – the chance to use the Lumiere’s Cinematographe and produce a short film with the following rules: no synchronous sound, only 52 seconds of film can be used, and only three takes could be made. The result was the dvd entitled “Lumiere and Company.”

The Kiss is the 52-second film made by director Jaco Van Dormael featuring actor Pascal Duquenne.

Director: Jaco Van Dormael

A former circus clown and children's theater producer, Jaco Van Dormael turned to filmmaking in the early 1980s, writing and directing a series of internationally award-winning shorts, documentaries and promotional films. In 1991, he made his feature film debut with the highly original "Toto le Heroes/Toto the Hero" (1991), a poignant, impressionistic chronicle that used a child's sensibilities and feelings to trace the life of an angry, disappointed man from birth to death and beyond. The film won the Camera d'Or prize for best first film at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. He then solidified his position as an important director with "Le Huitieme Jour/The Eighth Day" (1996), starring Daniel Auteuil as a harried executive whose life is changed through his encounter with a man with Down syndrome.

Of Belgian descent, Van Dormael was raised in Germany until age seven, when his family returned to Belgium. At his birth, the future filmmaker had nearly been strangled by the umbilical cord and received an insufficient supply of oxygen. It was feared that he may end up mentally impaired. This trauma perhaps accounts for the recurring themes in his films, which explore the worlds of those who are considered "mentally handicapped". Eventually moving to France to study film, Van Dormael supported himself by working as a clown. He began making short films in 1980 with the children's story "Maedli le breche". A number of his subsequent shorts, including "L'Imitateur" (1982) and "E Percoloso Sporgersi" (1984), had themes centering on the joy of and the talent for living.

Actor: Pascal Duquenne

Pascal and co-star Daniel Auteuil shared the Best Actor award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival for their performance in The Eighth Day.