Albert Kirchner

Who is Albert Kirchner?

Albert Kirchner was a French photographer, manufacturer, exhibitor, and filmmaker who is noted for producing several religious and pornographic films. He was employed as a photographer by Eugène Pirou a French filmmaker and pornographer. Kirchner directed a number of pornographic films, the first one being the 1896 film Le Coucher de la Mariee, one of the first pornographic films that featured cabaret performer Louise Willy.

He registered three patents for the film camera "Biographe francais Léar" in 1897-1898. He manufactured the camera by a company he himself founded along with two of his college-colleagues — Anthelme and Pacon. Kirchner produced and marketed two variants of "Biographe" — one for 35 mm film and the other for 60 mm film. In 1897, he arranged screenings at multiple locations that included the Oller Museum and the cafe Frontin in French capital Paris.

In partnership with Michel Coissac, who later became a well-known film historian, Kirchner directed the film Passion du Christ in twelve scenes in 1897. Shot in Paris, it was the first film made based on the story in the Bible. The film was shown in a large number of regions.