On the Beat: 'The Lost Factory' Documentary Rises

Hugo Martínez Cazón and Riley Allen at Burlington Beer Credit: Courtesy

Regular readers may recall that back in 2022, I wrote about Hugo Martínez Cazón, a Burlington environmental engineer who made the unlikely discovery that the French Lumière brothers — widely credited with inventing cinema and pioneering the use of color photography — built a factory in Burlington in 1903. Cazón was on a one-man mission to tell the world that Auguste and Louis Lumière didn’t just operate their famous factory in Lyon, France, but also set up shop in the Queen City, where they maintained a factory until 1912.

“It all just felt too unreal,” Cazón told me several years ago. “Like someone claiming Napoleon had an apartment in Chicago or something.”

Cazón’s discovery and his efforts to get the factory’s history acknowledged made for a fascinating story. Vermont native and New York City-based film director Riley Allen agreed on that point. The award-winning filmmaker saw my piece and reached out to Cazón, eager to document his story.

“The idea that this factory, where color photography was first introduced to America, is still standing in Burlington, and no one knew that until Hugo uncovered it, was just so intriguing,” Allen said in a phone call.

Now Allen is preparing to shoot a documentary on Cazón and the Lumière brothers’ American outpost called The Lost Factory. To raise funds for production, she and Cazón are hosting a presentation and Q&A this Thursday, August 14, at Burlington Beer, the site of the former Lumière factory. Much of the original early 20th-century architecture can still be seen in the building at 180 Flynn Avenue, where the duo will screen a vintage “autochrome” made on-site.

Art and hip-hop alert! On Saturday, August 16, the Foundry in Morrisville hosts Gallery Lane Open House, an evening of visual arts and hot rhymes. More than a dozen visual artists, including Dan Tomaino, Maddie LaBute, Wesley J. Turner, Cian McGuire and the folks from Green Door Studio, will display their work.

Soundtracking the night is a solid lineup of 802 hip-hop. DJ Pantsoph, Boxguts, Big Homie Wes, Roc Tha Don and YOLO fill a stacked bill. Snacks and refreshments will be provided, including pizza from Piecasso.

Burlington singer-songwriter Abbey B.K. has released a new single. “Right Next to Me” is a lovelorn slice of pop-flavored folk, with a bedrock of acoustic guitar and vamping piano. “You’re still where I sang my songs to you,” B.K. sings, painting a scene of lingering loss and grief. “Even when we’re older, you’re still right on my shoulder.”

The track is streaming on major platforms now. And don’t forget to catch Abbey hosting Big Heavy World’s local music program “Rocket Shop,” Wednesdays at 8 p.m. at bigheavyworld.com and on WOMM-LP the Radiator.