The passion for forgotten treasures
Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange, both passionate collectors of old movies, met in the fairs, flea markets and lofts they regularly visit. The first was looking for slapstick and cartoon films, the second for French early films of the origins of cinema, prior to WWI. They had different tastes, but their passion brought them together. Their friendship and the same conception of how to build a collection, 'to make old movies live and share this pleasure with the majority, made them work together within the Lobster Films company founded by Serge Bromberg in 1985. 20 years later, the Lobster collection is rich of more than 100,000 reels, making up an inestimable heritage.

 

One must know that during the first 50 years of cinema, nobody ever thought of preserving films. Unaware of their value, our predecessors even made them disappear on purpose. Such was the case when the film company Eclair destroyed its entire stock as to offer only the latest titles in its catalogue.
Moreover, the films made before the fifties were recorded on nitrate stocks, which has two major disadvantages: first it is inflammable, which explains why films of that time were called 'flame films'; secondly, it decays relentlessly.

 

Hence searching for these early films and preserving them became - and still is - a race against time. This collecting process encouraged the two accomplices to develop an important activity of preservation, and so to take part in the revival of major cinema masterpieces (L'Atalante, The Jazz Singer, Wages of Fear, Les Enfants du Paradis, etc.). From then on Lobster Films became one of the greatest French companies in this field.
The film preservation, as well as the organisation of Retour de Flamme performances since 1992 - twice a year in summer and in winter- brought the French-German cultural channel Arte to order Lobster series on American slapstick (Slapstick), silent cinema (Serial, First Comics, Album Couleur) or early cartoons (Cartoon Factory). Then the French educational channel La Cinquième gave Serge Bromberg the niche of entertaining animation with a programme called Cellulo, in 1995.

 

To share, a credo
Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange view the collection in the same way, very far from the taste for secret and stockpiling often characterising collectors. Both enjoy sharing their tastes, their pleasure and their passion for films. Lobster regularly collaborates with film archives worldwide, opening its treasure caves for them.
Lobster's heritage preservation work was recognised especially when receiving the "Jean Mitry Award" at the Pordenone Festival, the equivalent of a Palme d'Or for film archives.

 

But what Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange love above all is to share these jewels with an audience. This is why they have regularly organised Retour de Flamme for 12 years, in order to show their latest discoveries - restored, presented and accompanied on the piano by Serge Bromberg.
Their motto: to favour pleasure and entertainment, rather than an archivistic approach based upon the single criterion of rarity.

 

These shows take place In original places such as the Trianon Theatre or the Montmartre Gardens in June 2004 where each time 3,000 captivated people can share magic screenings reminding of those at the turn of the XXth Century!... Considering its increasing success and its larger and larger audience, Retour de Flamme keeps its spellbinding promise.