Years in film
19th century
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
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The year 1902 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• March 10 – A Circuit Court decision in the United States ends Thomas Edison's monopoly on the 35 mm movie film technology.^[1]
• April 2 – Thomas Lincoln Tally opens the Electric Theater, the first permanent movie theater, in Los Angeles.^[2] Tally co-founds the First National Exhibitors Circuit in 1917.^[3][4]
• August 9 – Georges Méliès' film The Coronation of Edward VII (a staged simulation with inserted actuality footage) is first shown in London on the evening of the Coronation itself.
• September 1 – actor/producer Méliès premières the first science fiction film, the silent A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans La Lune), at the Théâtre Robert-Houdin in Paris, France; it proves an immediate success.^[5] One scene features the animated human face of the Moon being struck in the eye by a rocket.
• William Wardell invents an 11 mm amateur film format, Vitak.

Notable films released in 1902

Mitchell and Kenyon

• Bradford Coronation Procession
• Burnley v. Manchester United
• Comic Pictures in High Street, West Bromwich
• Dewsbury v. Manningham
• Electric Tram Rides from Forster Square, Bradford
• Employees Leaving Storey's Moor Lane Mill, Lancaster
• The Great Local Derby: Accrington v. Church, Cricket Match
• Leeds Athletic and Cycling Club Carnival
• Lieutenant Clive Wilson and the Tranby Croft Party, Hull
• Living Wigan
• Sheffield United v. Bury
• Street Scenes in Halifax
• Tram Ride into Halifax
• Wexford Bull Ring
• Workers Leaving the Jute Works, Barrow

Edwin S. Porter

• Fun in a Bakery Shop
• Jack and the Beanstalk, based on the 1807 fairy tale by Benjamin Tabart

Ferdinand Zecca

• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Ali Baba et les quarante voleurs), based on the Middle-Eastern folk tale
• Quo Vadis?, co-directed by Lucien Nonguet

Georges Méliès

• The Coronation of Edward VII (Le Sacre d'Édouard VII)
• Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants (Le Voyage de Gulliver à Lilliput et chez les Géants), based on the 1726 novel by Jonathan Swift
• The Treasures of Satan (Les Trésors de Satan)
• A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune), based on the 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
• Robinson Crusoe (Les aventures de Robinson Crusoë), based on the 1719 novel by Daniel Defoe

Others

• The Little Match Seller, directed by James Williamson, based on the 1845 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen – (GB)
• Ringling Brothers Parade Film, produced by William Selig – (US)
• Snow White, produced by Siegmund Lubin, based on the 1812 fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm – (US)
• Working Rotary Snow Plows, produced by Edison Studios – (US)

Births

Deaths

• February 15 – Wilhelmina J. R. Albregt-Engelman, Dutch actress (born 1834)