Abstract: Reevaluating the historical significance of Auguste François's documentaries from a film-studies perspective through the lens of materiality enriches our understanding of Western-produced short documentary films about China during the late Qing Dynasty. François's case reveals the diversity of cinematic reception in late Qing society, exposing what remains elusive and inexpressible within the linear progression of temporal consciousness. First, as an instance of individual practice, François's documentaries highlight the mediating role of the cinématographe's material attributes as a "new medium". They shaped François's observational gaze and underscored the irreducible complexity of conveying intentionality through media. Second, as a material manifestation of power, the camera discloses the varied modes of media reception in late Qing China. The distance—whether physical or psychological—between subjects and the camera illustrates people's conscious avoidance of the apparatus, thereby structuring the experience of power embedded in the image. Finally, the distinctive perceptual experience afforded by film in the late Qing period illustrates the multiplicity of technological media in "inscribing" history. It foregrounds the material experience of "being" generated through imagery, exemplifying the unique role of late Qing documentary films in narrating human knowledge and memory through their characteristic "excess".