Lumière (originally known as the Library of Foreign Language Film Clips) was created by the Berkeley Language Center in 2008. This online library contains 20,742 clips drawn from 7,908 films in 191 languages. Clips and films in Lumière may be used only as part of a course offered by not-for-profit educational institutions for students registered for credit at that institution. If you are applying for an account on Lumière, please first check to see whether your institution is on the list of participating institutions. If your institution is not listed, you may not apply for an account. If you are interested in getting your institution involved with Lumière, please refer to this form.

Lumière was envisioned by Mark Kaiser. The initial database design and coding was completed by Chris Palmatier; subsequent database redesign and coding with multiple feature enhancements was completed by Elle Suzuki. Video troubleshooting and slowed audio files are created by Keith Hernandez of the BLC Recording Studio. Multiple servers handling the database, video file data, screen layout, and all backups are managed by John Wuorenmaa.

If you are interested in the potential of film texts in the foreign language curriculum, you may want to examine this 52-minute webinar, a co-production of CERCLL at the University of Arizona and the Berkeley Language Center.

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