If an individual film is a snapshot of its creator’s soul, then 20th-century cinema is undoubtedly a reflection of its time. The pages of history are filled with both tragic moments and humorous ones. In this book, you’ll find witty stories and apocryphal cases that made cinema what it is today. And of course, a gallery of portraits of the brightest directors, in whose faces the progress and development of the industry are reflected—its aesthetic formation and conceptual diversity. You’ll learn who was the main rival of the Lumière brothers in creating the first film; why it was Sergei Eisenstein who had such influence on cinema; what influence painting had on filmmakers; and other interesting facts and stories that every self-proclaimed film expert ought to know.