120 years of films in seven minutes

A FRENCH film student has put together a video montage summing up 120 years of cinema in just seven minutes.

The painstaking work, which has been viewed more than 330,000 times on YouTube, starts with the silent black-and-white attempts of 1895, through the Nouvelle Vague to the biggest Hollywood blockbusters and animated movies of recent years.

Joris Faucon Grimaud, who is studying audiovisual arts at Paul Valéry university in Montpellier, spent several months drawing up a list of 300 films he believes have shaped the history of cinema.

He said: "I started with my favourite films, then the films my lecturers cited in class, my friends' suggestions, and then I used sites such as IMDb and the book 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die."

The montage took about 40 hours to complete. He added: "I've been amazed by the number of people who've contacted and congratulated me. I hope it also shows off my editing skills and gets my name out there."

How many films do you recognise?