Mario Slugan, Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, has literally written the book on fiction in early cinema. With that background and research in mind, he selects four films that may fit into what we consider narrative before turning to a standout “nonfiction” film that looms large for 1906.

Mario has written three other monographs, including the upcoming Taking Fiction Film Seriously. He is also co-editor of New Perspectives on Early Cinema History and the special double issue of Early Popular Visual Culture, "Early Cinema in the British Colonies.”

Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1906!

Films and resources mentioned:

• The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) - Charles Tait
• The ? Motorist (1906) - Walter R. Booth
• The Merry Frolics of Satan (1906) - Georges Méliès
• The Consequences of Feminism (1906) - Alice Guy-Blaché
• A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (1906) - Harry Miles
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• Hamilton (2020) - Thomas Kail
• American Utopia (2020) - Spike Lee
• The Great Train Robbery (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• How It Feels to Be Run Over (1900) - Cecil Hepworth
• Jurassic Park (1993) - Steven Spielberg
• The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Martin Scorsese
• The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1898) - Georges Méliès
• They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) - Peter Jackson