2 April

Buster Keaton Shorts (Screening Format – not known) A selection of short comedies from the master of physical comedy and the deadpan expression in a specially selected programme for kids and families. Titles to be confirmed.   Presented as part of the ‘All About Piano’ festival.  With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney.  Ciné Lumière, Institut Francais, London Link

La Fille de l’eau   (Dir. Jean Renoir, 1924)  (Screening format – not known, 71mins)  One of the first films directed by Renoir featuring his first wife Catherine Hessling, La Fille de l’eau takes place in the late 19th century, in an age of canals and barges. Reduced to poverty from the loss of her father, Virginia falls back upon her own resources to eke out a simple living by stealing, until a classic case of mistaken identity leads #to the heroine being accused of setting fire to a French peasant’s haystack, and Virginia is forced to flee. Georges Raynal, the son of an eccentric landowner, finds her and takes her to a farmer’s cottage where she can be cared for. Virginie’s new found happiness is short-lived, however, as her cruel, drunken uncle Jef appears and demands money from her…    Find out more at filmsdefrance.com.  Presented as part of the ‘All About Piano’ festival.  With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney.  Ciné Lumière, Institut Francais, London   Link

4 April

An Italian Straw Hat (Dir. Rene Clair, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 60mins) On the day of Fadinard (Albert Prejean)’s wedding, his horse eats a lady( Olga Tschechowa)’s hat on a bush at the roadside, while the lady is hidden behind the bush with her lover Lieutenant Tavernier (Geymond Vital)  . Because she is married, she cannot return home hatless without being compromised, and Tavernier orders Fadinard to replace the hat with one exactly like it – or else he will wreck his new home. In an elaborate sequence of complications, Fadinard tries to find a hat while keeping to his marriage schedule. Find out more at silentfilm.org .   Sands Cinema Club, Rotherhithe, London Link

6 April

A Lowland Cinderella  (aka A Highland Maid)  (Dir. Sidney Morgan, 1921) (Screening format – 35mm, 59mins) A 1920’s take on the Cinderella fairy tale with Joan Morgan as Hester #Sterling who must try and overcome the evil schemes of Dr Torpican to find true love.  An adaptation of S. R. Crockett’s novel by Sidney Morgan, made at his Shoreham Beach Studio in the summer of 1921, the first and only film studio complex in West Sussex. The Shoreham studios operated between 1919 and 1923,  run by Stanley Morgan, at a site near to the Church of the Good Shepherd.  Morgan made seventeen features in the studios for the British film market. Joan Morgan, Sidney’s daughter, became the star of the studio. She died in 2004 aged 99.  Find out more at  screenarchive.brighton.ac.uk.  Presented as part of the British Silent Film Festival Symposium.  King’s College, London Link

A Light Woman (Dir. Adrian Brunel, 1928) (Screening format – DVD, 25mins) Previously thought lost,  a truncated 9.5mm home-market version of this film has recently been discovered, probably unseen since its original release. No further details available.  Presented as part of the British Silent Film Festival Symposium.  King’s College, London   Link

7 April

The Unsleeping Eye (Dir. Alexander Macdonald, 1928) (Screening format – 35mm, 68mins) An adventure story shot by a Scottish production company, this film has not been screened since its original release.  No further details.  Presented as part of the British Silent Film Festival Symposium.  King’s College, London   Link

11 April

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (Dir. Ernst Lubitsch/John M. Stahl, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 105mins)  Crown Prince Karl Heinrich (Phillippe de Lacy/Ramon Navorro) , nephew of the king of a small domain, has a joyless existence in the# pretentious formalism of the moribund court until his tutor, Dr. Juttner (Jean Hersholt) , arrives. After several years, Juttner takes Karl Heinrich to Heidelberg to study at the university. Here the prince falls in love with Kathi (Norma Shearer) , the niece of the owner of an inn where the tutor and the prince have taken rooms. But when the King dies and Karl is called home will things ever be the same?  Find out more at silentfilm.org.  Sands Cinema Club, Rotherhithe, London Link

12 April

Stark Love (Dir. Karl Brown, 1927)  (Screening format – 16mm) Stark Love is the story of Rob Warwick (Forrest James), a young man living in a hillbilly society in Carolina, who learns to read, begins to understand that women should be looked up to, and tries to provide an education for his neighbour Barbara Allen (Helen Mundy). When his mother dies, he has to battle against the reactionary views and plans of his father. A mixture of anthropology and melodrama, Stark Love was released by Paramount Pictures on February 28, 1927. When the film was released it was praised for its documentary realism but even with such praise, the film was not a commercial success. Paramount most likely burned the picture, along with 1,014 other feature silent films, for the silver they contained and it was thought lost until a copy was found by Kevin Brownlow in the Czechoslovakian film archives. In 2009, the Library of Congress described it as “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant, and it was preserved in the National Film Registry.  Find out more at wikipedia.org.   Presented by the Kennington Bioscope.    With live piano accompaniment.  Cinema Museum, Lambeth  Link

23 April

Les Miserables (Dir. Henri Fescourt, 1925 (Screening format – DCP, 397mins)  Never screened before in the UK this is the restored, retinted and full length version of Fescourt’s adaption of Hugo’s classic 19th century novel.  The film is centred primarily on the story of Jean Valjean (Gabriel Gabrio), an ex-convict struggling to redeem himself, with his attempts  continually ruined by the intrusion of the  cruel, ruthless police inspector Javert (  Jean Toulout ), who has dedicated his life to pursuing Valjean, whose only crime was stealing a loaf of bread. Never actually a lost film, screenings of Fescourt’s epic have previously been limited to a heavily cut-down, black and white version.  But #following a four year restoration project, the film has been restored to its former glory, all six hours worth!.  Screened in France initially in late 2014 and then at Pordonone in 2015 this will be its first UK screening.  Although Hugo’s novel has been adapted at least 50 times for screen, television or stage, those that have seen the full length version of Fescourt’s adaption contend that ” Among all these, however, it is not too much to surmise that Henri Fescourt’s 1925 cinéroman is the most faithful in every sense – to the narrative, the philosophy, the humanity, and the morality. This is Hugo.”  Find out more at wondersinthedark.wordpress.com  With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand.  Barbican, London  Link

25 April

Accident (Ger.  Polizeibericht Überfall  ) (Dir. Erno Metzner, 1928    ) +   Menilmontant  (Dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926)   (Screening format – not known, 21/38 mins)   Accident focuses upon the struggles of a German citizen who happens upon a counterfeit coin lying in a gutter.and poses the notion that the coin might be “cursed,” as another passerby is struck down by a car while reaching for it in the middle of the road. Although the finder of the coin is at first glad, he soon regrets ever having picked it up.  Find out more at imdb.com.   In Menilmontant, a couple are brutally murdered in the working-class district of Paris. Later on, the narrative follows the lives of their two daughters (Nadia Sibirskaïa and Yolande Beaulieu), both in love with a Parisian thug (Guy Belmont) and leading them to separate ways.   Kirsanoff’s second film, Menilmontant is also his best known.  It has been described as “une oevre presque parfaite” (“a nearly perfect work”) . Its story is told entirely in images, without the use of explanatory intertitles; Kirsanoff was among the very rare filmmakers of the silent era to attempt this. The film makes use of techniques such as montage, hand-held camera, ultra-rapid montage, and superposition.  For more info see seul-le-cinema.blogspot.co.uk  Sands Cinema Club, Rotherhithe, London   Link

29 April

Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lange, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 153 mins ) Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city. Filming took place in 1925 at a cost of approximately five million Reichmarks, making it the most expensive film ever released up to that point. It is regarded as a pioneering work of science fiction and is among the most influential films of all time. Following its world premiere in 1927, half an hour was cut from Fritz Lang’s masterpiece and lost to the world. Eighty years later a spectacular discovery was made when the footage was found in a small, dusty museum in Buenos Aires. The film was then painstakingly reconstructed and digitally restored so that at last audiences could see the iconic futuristic fairy tale as Lang had envisioned it. Find out more at silentfilm.org  Being presented as part of the Herne Hill Free Film Festival.  With Gottfried Huppertz recorded score.  All Saint’s Church, London SE21. Link

30 April

Peckham Streets Film Night (Dir. various)  Maverick Projects and The Peckham Society present an evening of archive films, photos and live music celebrating the streets of Peckham and Southwark over the decades. From newly-discovered early 1900s slapstick comedies made at the Gaumont film studios on Champion Hill, to Peckham street parades in 1913, bomb damage of the Second World War, streets of the Swinging Sixties, the draining of the glorious Surrey Canal, right up to the violence of the 2011 riots. We will be taking over the former Electric Cinema space on Rye Lane for one night only, bringing you the history of our streets.  The films and historical photographs will be accompanied by a series of great local musicians including a silent cinema pianist (Meg Morley), a blues guitarist and a rock band as well as a DJ mixing old 78s.   133 Rye Lane (entrance in corridor to Bussey Building), Peckham, London Link

---

NB  Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the information contained in these listings is accurate, silentfilmcalendar.org can take no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies.  You are strongly advised to confirm with the venue that the event remains as detailed, particularly if travelling any distance to attend.