On May 28, 1900, the moon momentarily covered the sun — and British magician-turned-pioneering-filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne was there to capture it.

Key points: The footage is reportedly the only film by Nevil Maskelyne that we know to have survived

The footage is reportedly the only film by Nevil Maskelyne that we know to have survived He wanted to show how film could be used for the advancement of science

He wanted to show how film could be used for the advancement of science The moving picture was filmed in North Carolina over a century ago

Nearly 120 years later, the earliest moving picture of the total solar eclipse has been painstakingly scanned and restored by conservation experts at the British Film Institute National Archive, who have reassembled and retimed Maskelyne's footage frame by frame.

The original film fragment — which was shot on an expedition to North Carolina on behalf of the British Astronomical Association — was Maskelyne's second attempt at capturing a solar eclipse.

The filmmaker was spurred by his desire to show the developing cinematograph could be used for the advancement of science, according to the British Film Institute (BFI).

"Film, like magic, combines both art and science," said BFI silent film curator Bryony Dixon.

"This is a story about magic — magic and art and science and film and the blurred lines between them.

"Early film historians have been looking for this film for many years. Like one of his elaborate illusions, it's exciting to think that this, [the] only known surviving film by Maskelyne, has reappeared now.

"Harnessing 21st-century technical magic, this 19th-century attraction has been reanimated.

"Maskelyne wanted a novelty to show at his magic theatre — what better than the most impressive natural phenomenon of them all?"

The shaky moving picture was Nevil Maskelyne's second attempt at capturing an eclipse. ( Supplied: British Film Institute )

"It's wonderful to see events from our scientific past brought back to life," Professor Mike Cruise, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, said of the film's release.

"Astronomers are always keen to embrace new technology, and our forerunners a century ago were no exception.

"These scenes of a total solar eclipse — one of the most spectacular sights in astronomy — are a captivating glimpse of Victorian science in action."

This earliest moving picture of the total solar eclipse is reportedly the only film by Maskelyne that we know to have survived.