Ferdinand Zecca

Son of a stage manager at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu in Paris, Zecca worked as a singer and actor before joining Charles Pathé in 1900. Appointed artistic director at Pathé's Vincennes studios, he turned Pathé into the largest film production company in the world.

In 1901, Zecca directed Histoire d'un crime, the first film in history to use the flashback technique, depicting a condemned killer's memories projected on his prison wall. He directed beloved trick films (À la conquête de l'air), melodramas, and Biblical epics (La Vie et la Passion de Jésus-Christ, 1903).