Underplayed Gems

The Oil Gush in Balakhany (1898)

The Oil Gush in Balakhany poster
Original title
Balaxanıda neft fontanı
Directed by
Alexandre Michon
Genre
documentary film, silent film
Country
Russian Empire
Runtime
50 min
Rating
4.5 of 10 from 15 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A silent film from 1898 shows an oil well blowout in Balakhany, a village near Baku. The camera captures the gushing oil from a fixed viewpoint.

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What happens

The Oil Gush in Balakhany (Azerbaijani: Balaxanıda neft fontanı) is a Russian film written and directed by the pioneer of cinema in Azerbaijan, Alexandre Michon. It was filmed on August 4, 1898, in Balakhany, Baku and presented at the International Paris Exhibition. The film was shot using a 35 mm film on a Lumière cinematograph and is considered the first film in Azerbaijani cinematography. It depicts a blowout from an oil well in the Balakhany village of Baku. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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