A lost 1897 silent film by pioneering French director Georges Méliès, "Gugusse et l'Automate," has been rediscovered and digitally restored. The 45-second slapstick short, featuring a magician battling a robot, was found in a collection of early film reels passed down through a family of traveling showmen and has now been preserved in 4K by the Library of Congress.
This discovery is significant because it adds a crucial, missing piece to the early history of science fiction cinema. Méliès is celebrated for groundbreaking fantasy films like 1902's "A Trip to the Moon," and "Gugusse et l'Automate" represents an even earlier experiment with the genre's themes, offering scholars and the public a new glimpse into the origins of cinematic special effects and speculative storytelling.