November 2017

2 November

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) + Cops (Dir. Edward F Cline/Buster Keaton, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 91/18 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the #avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org Cops sees Buster Keaton ending up with a load of furniture in the middle of parade of policemen. An anarchist’s bomb lands in his carriage. After lighting his cigarette with it, he tosses it into the ranks of police. When it explodes the police chase him all over town by the entire Los Angeles Police Department. Find out more atwikipedia.org . With live musical accompaniment by acclaimed pianist Tony Judge . Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria.Link

3 November

London Symphony (Dir. Alex Barrett, UK, 2017) (Screening format – not known) London Symphony is a brand new silent film – a city symphony – which offers a poetic journey through London, a cosmopolitan city facing a challenge to its identity in the current political climate. It is an artistic portrait of the city as it stands today, and a celebration of its culture and diversity. Find out more atlondonsymphfilm.com . With recorded James McWilliam soundtrack. Filmhouse, EdinburghLink

Silent Film Evening A selection of silent films (titles TBC) with live organ accompaniment by Donald MacKenzie. Holy Trinity Church, Southport, Lancs Link

4 November

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dir.Wallace Worsley, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 117mins) A classic silent film, full of drama, frights, romance, and excitement – Quasimodo’s story is told with the thrilling addition of a live score – bringing this extraordinary movie to life like never before. Quasimodo is ordered to kidnap a gypsy girl, Esmerelda, by his wicked master, and an unlikely friendship forms between them. However, the reclusive hunchback is tested to his limits when Esmerelda is framed for attempted murder, and must fight back against the powers that have subjugated him. Victor Hugo’s tragic tale of the deformed bellringer and his love for Esmeralda, a doomed gypsy girl, has been filmed so many times that an accurate count of all the versions would probably be difficult to pinpoint but it’s not hard to see the film’s ageless appeal. While you may find movie lovers who cite the 1939 Charles Laughton version or even the 1996 Disney animated version as favorite interpretations, the general consensus among actors (Burt Lancaster and Orson Welles to name a few) is that Chaney remains the definitive Quasimodo. Find out more atwikipedia.org. Presented as part of the Birmingham Piano Festival. With live organ accompaniment from award-winning organist and improvisation specialist, Alexander Mason. Elgar Concert Hall, The Bramall, University of Birmingham, Birmingham Link

A Cottage on Dartmoor (Dir. Anthony Asquith, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 84mins) Joe (Uno Henning) works as a barber in a shop in a Devon town, alongside a manicurist called Sally (Norah Baring). He becomes infatuated with her and asks her out but it is clear that Sally does not reciprocate Joe’s feelings. Joe’s infatuation with her develops into obsession. Meanwhile a young farmer Harry (Hans Schlettow), begins to woo Sally and the couple begin seeing each other which leaves Joe in despair. After a fight with Harry, Joe is jailed but swears revenge on Harry and Sally. A Cottage on Dartmoor is a tale of love and revenge set in the bleak landscape of Dartmoor and a thoughtful distillation of the best of European silent film techniques from a director steeped in the work of the Soviet avant-garde and German expressionism. One of the last films of the silent era and a virtuoso piece of film-making, A Cottage on Dartmoor was a final passionate cry in defence of an art form soon to be obsolete. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Introduced by Laraine Porter of De Montford University. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Cromarty Hall, St Margaret’s Hope, OrkneyLink

5 November

A Cottage on Dartmoor (Dir. Anthony Asquith, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 84mins) Joe (Uno Henning) works as a barber in a shop in a Devon town, alongside a manicurist called Sally (Norah Baring). He becomes infatuated with her and asks her out but it is clear that Sally does not reciprocate Joe’s feelings. Joe’s infatuation with her develops into obsession. Meanwhile a young farmer Harry (Hans Schlettow), begins to woo Sally and the couple begin seeing each other which leaves Joe in despair. After a fight with Harry, Joe is jailed but swears revenge on Harry and Sally. A Cottage on Dartmoor is a tale of love and revenge set in the bleak landscape of Dartmoor and a thoughtful distillation of the best of European silent film techniques from a director steeped in the work of the Soviet avant-garde and German expressionism. One of the last films of the silent era and a virtuoso piece of film-making, A Cottage on Dartmoor was a final passionate cry in defence of an art form soon to be obsolete. Find out more atsilentfilm.org. Introduced by Laraine Porter of De Montford University. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Gable End Theatre, Hoy, OrkneyLink

The Cameraman (Dir. Edward Sedgwick/Buster Keaton, US, 1928) (Screening format – 35mm, 67mins) Buster (Buster Keaton) meets Sally (Marceline Day), who works as a secretary for the newsreel department at MGM, and falls hard. Trying to win her attention, Buster abandons photography in order to become a news cameraman. In spite of his early failures with a motion camera, Sally takes to him as well. However, veteran cameraman Stagg (Harold Goodwin) also fancies Sally, meaning Buster will need to learn how to film quickly before he loses his job. Find out more atslantmagazine.com . With live piano accompaniment. BFI Southbank, LondonLink

6 November

Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (Dir. F Murnau, US, 1931) (Screening format – not known, 84mins) F.W. Murnau’s last silent film, the poetic and moving Tabu is the story of an impossible love on Bora-Bora island, between Matahi, a young pearl diver, and Reri, a young woman promised to the gods. One of the last classic silent movies, this supreme example of poetic cinema brought together the German expressionist Murnau with the American mining engineer turned ethnographic documentary film-maker Robert J Flaherty. With studio money they escaped to spend a year around Tahiti making their film, recruiting non-professional talent locally and producing a film with no inter-titles (the story is told by sign, gesture an documents) and one that is beautiful to behold, winning an Oscar for cinematography. Tragically, Murnau was killed in a car accident just a week before the film’s premier. Find out more at imdb.com. Presented as part of the Leeds International Film Festival. Accompanied live by acclaimed French musician Christine Otton. Town Hall, Leeds.Link

Such Is Life (Dir. Carl Junghans, 1930) (Screening format – not known, 71mins) This Czech film captures the tragic story of an aging laundress (Vera Baranovskaja) whose drudgery and toil support a licentious and abusive alcoholic husband (Theodor Pištěk). A psychological drama with social themes, it draws from Zola’s novel, The Kill, and with full cinematic expression, a progressive approach to montage and emphasis on the symbolic power of close-ups, represents the climax of silent film. Find out more atwikipedia.org . Presented as part of the Leeds International Film Festival. Accompanied by a live performance on piano from Jonathan Best. Hyde Park Picture House, LeedsLink

Nosferatu (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – DCP, 96mins) A German Expressionis horror masterpiece starring Max Shreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel. Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaption and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints survived and the film came to be regarded as an inspirational masterwork of the cinema. In the film, Count Orlok travels across Europe leaving a trail of death in his wake. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved. Find out more at wikipedia.org . With recorded soundtrack. BFI Southbank, LondonLink

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) (Screening format – not known ) A serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the #avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more atsilentfilm.org With live organ accompaniment by Darius Battiwalla. Leeds Town Hall, LeedsLink

7 November

Nosferatu (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 81mins) A German Expressionis horror masterpiece starring Max Shreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel. Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaption and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints survived and the film came to be regarded as an inspirational masterwork of the cinema. In the film, Count Orlok travels across Europe leaving a trail of death in his wake. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved. Find out more at wikipedia.org . With live musical accompaniment from Dmytro Morykit. Halton Mill, LancasterLink

8 November

General, The (Dir. Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 75mins) Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made and one of the most revered comedies of the silent era, Buster Keaton’s effortless masterpiece sees hapless Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray (Keaton) facing off against Union soldiers during the American Civil War. When Johnny’s fiancée, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is accidentally taken away while on a train stolen by Northern forces, Gray pursues the soldiers, using various modes of transportation in comic action scenes that highlight Keaton’s boundless, innovative wit and joyful, lighthearted dexterity, to reclaim the train and thereby save the South. Find out more at busterkeaton.com . With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge Link

Last of the Mohicans (Dir. Maurice Tourneur/Clarence Brown, US, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) This is the second film adaption of James Fenimore Cooper’s classic adventure novel, the story of two English sisters (Barbara Bedford and Lillian Hall) meeting danger on the frontier of the American colonies, in and around the fort commanded by their father. Help comes in the form of hunter and scout Hawkeye (Harry Lorraine) together with Chingachgook (Theodore Lorch) and his son Uncas (Alan Roscoe), the last of the Mohicans. Wallace Beery is suitably menacing as the evil Magua. Oh, and look out for Boris Karloff in an uncredited bit-part as an Indian. Find out more at imdb.com . Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live piano accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, London. Link

9 November

Sherlock Jnr (Dir. Buster Keaton, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 45 mins) In Sherlock Jr, a kindly movie projectionist (Buster Keaton) longs to be a detective. When his fiancée (Kathryn McGuire) is robbed by a local thief (Ward Crane), the poor projectionist is framed for the crime. Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station – only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theatre, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes. Although not a popular success on its initial release, the film has come to be recognised as a Keaton classic with its special effects and elaborate stunts making it a landmark in motion picture history. Find out more at silentfilm.org. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Showroom Workstation Cinema, Sheffield Link

Tuvalu (Dir. Veit Helmer, Ger, 1999) Screening format – not known, 101 mins) A modern soundtrack for a modern silent film – Veit Helmer’s gorgeous Tuvalu ranks alongside the Oscar-winning The Artist as one of the greatest silent films made in recent years. Why choose between a gig or a film when you can have both? No piano solo accompaniment here: silent film is going to get loud. All attendees can be a part of the score using their mobile phones, with interactive elements cueing you to cheer, stamp, boo and even gargle as hero Anton sets out to save his beloved swimming pool from closure, and win the heart of feisty Eva in this quirky silent fairy tale. This will be only the second time the live soundtrack has been performed in the world, with the world premiere taking place at the 20th Motovun Film Festival in Croatia in July 2017. Previously unreleased in the UK, Tuvalu is a must-see for fans of classic silent films, as well as fans of alternative indie live music think Arcade Fire, British Sea Power, or Sigur Ros. Find out more at imdb.com Presented as part of Hull City of Culture 2017. With live musical accompaniment by Croatia’s leading indie electro artists Mr Lee & IvaneSky. Fruit, HullLink

10 November

Informer (Dir. Arthur Robison, 1929) (Screening format – DCP, 101mins) A technically and artistically sophisticated drama set in Dublin amongst members of a revolutionary party in the newly independent Ireland of 1922. The noir-ish story follows the fateful consequences of jealousy and betrayal when fiery Gypo ‘informs’ on his former comrade Francis, out of misguided suspicion over a girl. With a German/American director, a Hungarian leading lady and a Swedish leading man the international nature of the production was typical of a period in filmmaking unencumbered by dialogue and exhibits hallmarks of a distinctively German style thanks to cinematography by Werner Brandes (‘Piccadilly’) and Lubitsch regular Theodor Sparkuhl. The film was released in both part-talkie and silent versions but this afternoon we present the superior, silent version, newly restored by the British Film Institute. Find out more at screenonline.org . With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Introduced by Laraine Porter from De Montfort University, Leicester. DCA, DundeeLink

By the Law (Po Zakonu) (Dir . Lev Kuleshov, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 80mins ) Legendary director Lev Kuleshov adapted a short story by Jack London, fashioning a tense, existential study of moral pressure…in effect a pared-back Soviet Western. Three gold prospectors are holed up in a cabin – one driven to murder by greed, the other two wrestling with whether to wait for the snow and ice to thaw and go for the authorities or to take the Law into their own hands. The stage is set for a claustrophobic drama of raw power, combining naturalism and the grotesque, realism and melodrama… Find out more atsilentsaregolden.com . With live musical accompaniment by multi-award-winning Scottish musician, singer and song-writer R.M. Hubbert (aka Hubby) performing his brand new guitar score, commissioned by the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival. Burgh Hall, DunoonLink

Battleship Potemkin (Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 75mins) Considered one of the most important films in the history of silent pictures, as well as possibly Eisenstein’s greatest work, Battleship Potemkin brought Eisenstein’s theories of cinema art to the world in a powerful showcase; his emphasis on montage, his stress of intellectual contact, and his treatment of the mass instead of the individual as the protagonist. The film tells the story of the mutiny on the Russian ship Prince Potemkin during the 1905 uprising.Their mutiny was short-lived, however, as during their attempts to get the population of Odessa to join the uprising, soldiers arrived and laid waste to the insurgents. Battleship Potemkin is a work of extraordinary pictorial beauty and great elegance of form. It is symmetrically broken into five movements or acts. In the first of these, “Men and Maggots,” the flagrant mistreatment of the sailors at the hands of their officers is demonstrated, while the second, “Drama on the Quarterdeck,” presents the actual mutiny and the ship’s arrival in Odessa. “Appeal from the Dead” establishes the solidarity of the citizens of Odessa with the mutineers. It is the fourth sequence, “The Odessa Steps,” which depicts the massacre of the citizens, that thrust Eisenstein and his film into the historical eminence that both occupy today. It is unquestionably the most famous sequence of its kind in film history, and Eisenstein displays his legendary ability to convey large-scale action scenes. The shot of the baby carriage tumbling down the long staircase has been re-created in many films. The sequence’s power is such that the film’s conclusion, “Meeting the Squadron,” in which the Potemkin in a show of brotherhood is allowed to pass through the squadron unharmed, is anticlimactic. Find out more atclassicartfilms.com . With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion). Rymer Auditorium, University of York, York Link

11 November

Flying Luck (Dir. Herman C Raymaker, US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 71 mins) Inspired by his hero, aviator Charles Lindbergh, our boy (Monty Banks) buys a dilapidated airplane, rebuilds it, and studies flying in “Ten Easy Lessons by Mail.” When his first flight crashes through the roof of an Army recruiting office he’s inspired to enlist. Further chaos and confusion ensues but will it enough to prevent Monty winning over the Colonel’s daughter (Jean Arthur). Find out more atimdb.com . Presented as part of the Kennington Bioscope’s Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Matthew Ross. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, LondonLink

The Battle of the Ancre and the Advance of the Tanks (Dir. Geoffrey Malins, UK, 1917) (Screening format – not known, 67mins) The Battle of the Ancre is the official record of the British Army’s winter campaign on the Somme in 1916. Ancre contains evocative and haunting images of trench warfare, notably of the waves of troops advancing into no-man’s land, the use of horses and the first views of the tank – the secret weapon used to break the deadlock on the Western Front. Find out more atimdb.com . Presented as part of the Aesthetica Film Festival. With recorded soundtrack. 1331 Cafe, York Link

Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 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 atsilentfilm.org . Presented as part of the Cinecity Brighton Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from electronic improv group Factory Floor. Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts, BrightonLink

Blackmail (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 84mins) Alice White is the daughter of a shopkeeper in 1920’s London. Her boyfriend, Frank Webber is a Scotland Yard detective who seems more interested in police work than in her. Frank takes Alice out one night, but she has secretly arranged to meet another man. Later that night Alice agrees to go back to his flat to see his studio. The man has other ideas and as he tries to rape Alice, she defends herself and kills him with a bread knife. When the body is discovered, Frank is assigned to the case, he quickly determines that Alice is the killer, but so has someone else and blackmail is threatened. Alfred Hitchcock’s sinister, suspenseful tale of crime and romance is one of the last British silent films to be made. With his traditional cameo appearance in the first reel, to a spectacular moonlit chase through the British Museum in the final reel, Blackmail is a classic thriller from the Master of Suspense. Find out more atscreenonline.org.uk With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’Ness, ScotlandLink

A Cottage on Dartmoor (Dir. Anthony Asquith, 1929) (Screening format – BluRay, 84mins) Joe (Uno Henning) works as a barber in a shop in a Devon town, alongside a manicurist called Sally (Norah Baring). He becomes infatuated with her and asks her out but it is clear that Sally does not reciprocate Joe’s feelings. Joe’s infatuation with her develops into obsession. Meanwhile a young farmer Harry (Hans Schlettow), begins to woo Sally and the couple begin seeing each other which leaves Joe in despair. After a fight with Harry, Joe is jailed but swears revenge on Harry and Sally. A Cottage on Dartmoor is a tale of love and revenge set in the bleak landscape of Dartmoor and a thoughtful distillation of the best of European silent film techniques from a director steeped in the work of the Soviet avant-garde and German expressionism. One of the last films of the silent era and a virtuoso piece of film-making, A Cottage on Dartmoor was a final passionate cry in defence of an art form soon to be obsolete. Find out more at silentfilm.org. With live musical accompaniment by Wurlitza. Newnham Film Club, Newnham, Gloucestershire Link

Dawson City – Frozen Time (Dir. Bill Morrison, US, 2016) This documentary pieces together the bizarre true story of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s – 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Using these permafrost protected, rare silent films and newsreels, archival footage, interviews and historical photographs to tell the story, and accompanied by an enigmatic score by Sigur Rós collaborator and composer Alex Somers (Captain Fantastic), Dawson City: Frozen Time depicts a unique history of a Canadian gold rush town by chronicling the life cycle of a singular film collection through its exile, burial, rediscovery, and salvation – and through that collection, how a First Nation hunting camp was transformed and displaced. Find out more atpicturepalacepictures.com . Presented as part of the Inverness Film Festival. Eden Court, InvernessLink

British Shorts – A selection of early British shorts with several featuring the early Vivaphone sound system. Films include; I Do Like to Be Where the Girls Are (Vivaphone)(c.1912); The Curate and His Double (aka The Parson and His Double) (1907); Kelly Takes His Missus to Southend (aka A Useful Umbrella) (1913); A Merry Night (1914); Walter Makes A Movie (1922) with Walter Forde (image left); and finally The Rollicking Rajah (Vivaphone)(c.1912, image above right). Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Tony Fletcher. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, London Link

Hapless Husbands – A selection of silent films featuring that put-upon breed. Films include ; Robinet is Jealous (1914) one of the series of Robinet shorts featuring Marcel Perez; Innocent Husbands (1925) with Charley Chase, married to a jealous wife but discovering an unconscious woman in his house; Max Wants A Divorce (1917) with Max Linder forced to choose between losing his newly-wedded wife and a fortune; and lastly The Persian Carpet (1919) with Gerhard Dammann. Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Michelle Facey. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, London Link

Be My Wife (Dir. Max Linder, US, 1921) (Screening format – not known, 57mins) Max (Max Linder) and Mary (Alta Allen) are in love, but Mary’s Aunt Agatha (Caroline Rankin) dislikes Max, and instead prefers the unappealing Simon . So Max has to resort to a series of ruses to try to get Simon out of the way, and to be able to spend time with Mary. Finally, Max comes up with a scheme that might allow him to prove to Aunt Agatha that he is more worthy than Simon. Find out more at imdb.com . Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Jon Davies. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, LondonLink

Keaton Centenary –Illustrated talk with films and clips to mark the hundredth anniversary of Buster

Keaton’s first appearance on film. Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by David Wyatt and Susan Cygan. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, LondonLink

She Could Be Chaplin!An illustrated talk on the life and career of now almost forgotten comedienne Alice Howell including shorts Cinderella Cinders (Dir. Frederick J Ireland, US, 1920) and One Wet Night (Dir. William Watson, 1924). Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Anthony Slide (who will be signing copies of his new book on Alice Howell). With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, LondonLink

Neptunes’s Naughty Daughter (Dir. John G Blystone,US, 1917)(Screening format – not known) Recently rediscovered at the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, virtually nothing is known of this film. This is the premier of a new restoration. Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Anthony Slide (who will be signing copies of his new book on Alice Howell). With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, LondonLink

The Kid Brother ( Dir. Harold Lloyd/ Ted Wilde. US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 82 mins) The most important family in Hickoryville is the Hickorys, with sheriff Jim and his tough manly sons Leo and Olin. The timid youngest son, Harold, (Harold Lloyd) doesn’t have the muscles to match up to them, so he has to use his wits to win the respect of his strong father and also the love of beautiful Mary (Jobyna Ralston). Find out more atsilentfilm.org . Presented as part of the Kennngton Bioscope Silent Laughter Saturday. Introduced by Kevin Brownlow. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, LondonLink

12 November

The Woman He Scorned (aka The Way Of Lost Souls) (Dir. Paul Czinner, UK, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 94 mins) Considered washed up in Hollywood, silent-screen queen Pola Negri made her talkie debut in the British The Woman He Scorned. The plot concerns a lighthouse keeper (Warwick Ward) who finds himself in a nightclub where woman-of-the-world (Louise) Pola Negri attaches herself to him. He wants no part of her and sets out to sea alone, back to his lonely lighthouse. But fate has a lot more in store for the poor lighthouse keeper. Find out more atimdb.com. Presented as part of the Inverness Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Eden Court, Inverness Link

The Last Silent Picture Show – Turmoil hit the British film industry in 1929. Sound technology was making inroads in film studios and cinemas but where did that leave the silent features already planned or completed? Using extensive clips, film historian Geoff Brown explores the mixed artistic results of the industry’s heroic, sometimes foolhardy attempts to remodel existing silent properties with synchronised dialogue and music. The young Alfred Hitchcock achieved a triumph in Blackmail, but what about the sentimental drama Kitty, the tartan nightmare of The Lady of the Lake, or the earnestly Germanic The Informer? And would the exotic Mona Goya in The Lady from the Sea manage to pronounce the word “bungalow”? Presented as part of the Inverness Silent Film Festival. Eden Court, InvernessLink

Together (Dir. Lorenza Mazzetti, 1956) (Screening format – DCP, 52mins) A special screening of this dialogue-free film made without synchronised sound by pioneering, Italian-born Lorenza Mazzetti, part of the British ‘Free Cinema’ movement, whose manifesto celebrated ‘freedom’ for filmmakers from orthodoxy and conservatism. The film is a refreshing and sometimes moving slice of everyday working-class life, set in London’s East End. It follows two deaf-mute dockers in the midst of the wary, hearing community. Mazzetti cast the then unknown, 32-year-old Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi in the lead. He relished his role, modelling his performance on Marlon Brando! Find out more atimdb.com . Presented as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. With live jazz accompaniment from by Raymond MacDonald and Christian Ferlaino (saxophone & percussion). Barbican, London Link

15 November

Weimar Silent Film Night Between 1919 and 1933 the Weimar Republic had an enormous influence on international perceptions of German film. This first German democratic state, which at the end of the First World War succeeded the imperial regime of Kaiser Wilhelm II, enabled film to emerge as a socially significant art form both despite and because of economic, political, and civil crises. Presented by South West Silents. Introduced by Yorkshire Silents’ Jonathan Best who will provide live piano accompaniment to the films. Lansdown Public House, Clifton, Bristol Link

16 November

Zvenyhora (Dir. Oleksandr Dovzhenko, USSR 1927) (Screening format – not known, 70 mins) Through the centuries, an old man looks after his two grandsons and guards the Scythian treasure hidden in the Zvenyhora mountain. Before his eyes, as if in a dream, he witnesses one historical period after another – from the arrival of the Varangians and the Haidamak Cossacks to the First World War and the October Revolution. The old man’s elder grandson Pavlo commits to finding the treasure, the symbol of Ukranian national identity, and becomes possessed by a gold rush, which triggers fantastic visions in the heads of treasure hunters. His younger grandson, Tymish, trades his grandfather’s archaic world of nature for a remedial school for workers and industrialisation, the signifier of Bolshevism. The brothers meet on the enchanted mountain for a climatic battle, a metaphorical portrayal of the Ukrainian civil war. The first film in Dovzhenko’s silent Ukrainian trilogy brought him fame as an original and talented avant garde film director, but also ignited a fierce debate about the national cinema in Ukraine. Of this film, Dovzhenko himself reflected: “Zvenyhora… is me: contradictory, visionary, often uncontrollable, quivering with an acute sense of conflict and the rhythm of all ages.” The magic tricks of early silent films, the gloomy mysticism of German films of the 1920s, Chaplin-like irony and avant-garde editing – in a unique way Dovzhenko combined all of these elements in his epic film. Find out more at silentsplease.wordpress.com . Presented as part of an Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Silent Trilogy. With live musical accompaniment by Ukrainian-Polish band FUTUREthno. Introduction and Q&A by Philip Cavendish, Reader in Russian and Soviet Film Studies, School of SSEES UCL and Stanislav Menzelevskyi, Programme Director of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre, Ukraine’s national cinemateque. ICA, LondonLink

The Navigator (Dir. Donald Crisp/Buster Keaton, US, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 59mins) When the wealthy and impulsive Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) decides to propose to his beautiful socialite neighbor, Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn McGuire), things don’t go as planned. Alhough Betsy turns Rollo down, he still opts go on the cruise that he intended as their honeymoon. When circumstances find both Rollo and Betsy on the wrong ship, with no one else on board, they end up with some hilarious high adventures on the high seas, which allows Keaton plenty of opportunities to display his trademark agility. Find out more at busterkeaton.com . With live organ accompaniment from Donald MacKenzie. Alexandra Palace, LondonLink

17 November

Epic of Everest (Dir. J B L Noel, UK, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 85mins) A real adventure captured on film! The Epic of Everest is the official record of the fateful 1924 expedition of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine as they attempted to reach the summit. This is the very earliest footage of the Himalayas and beautifully captures its untouched landscape in colour (tinted) film, while displaying the bravery of this group of British mountaineers and their Nepalese team. The third attempt to climb Everest culminated in the deaths of two of the finest climbers of their generation and sparked an on-going debate over whether or not they did indeed reach the summit. Filming in brutally harsh conditions with a hand-cranked camera, Captain John Noel captured images of breathtaking beauty and considerable historic significance. The film is also among the earliest filmed records of life in Tibet and features sequences at Phari Dzong (Pagri), Shekar Dzong (Xegar) and Rongbuk monastery. But what resonates so deeply is Noel’s ability to frame the vulnerability, isolation and courage of people persevering in one of the world’s harshest landscapes. Find out more at silentlondon.co.uk . With live piano accompaniment by Cyrus Gabrysch. Followed by a specially convened panel discussion on the role of film in expeditions past and present. Royal Geographical Society, LondonLink

London Symphony (Dir. Alex Barrett, UK, 2017) (Screening format – not known) London Symphony is a brand new silent film – a city symphony – which offers a poetic journey through London, a cosmopolitan city facing a challenge to its identity in the current political climate. It is an artistic portrait of the city as it stands today, and a celebration of its culture and diversity. Find out more atlondonsymphfilm.com . Accompanied by an original musical composition by James McWilliam performed by the Covent Garden Sinfonia under the baton of Artistic Director Ben Palmer. Langley Park Centre for the Performing Arts, Beckenham Link

18 November

Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (Dir. Fritz Lang, Ger, 1922) (Screening format – DCP, 270mins) Lang’s epic but fast-moving two-parter, about an all-powerful underworld genius and master of disguise creating all kinds of chaos in Berlin, is one of the earliest and greatest conspiracy thrillers. Mabuse is focused on manipulating the economy in his quest for power, as made clear in the opening scenes, which convey the frighteningly wide range of his malign influence. A visionary classic. Find out more attcm.com . With recorded Aljoscha Zimmermann score. BFI Southbank, LondonLink

Silent Film Evening A selection of silent films (titles TBC) with live organ accompaniment by Donald MacKenzie. Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke on TrentLink

19 November

Arsenal (Dir. Oleksandr Dovzhenko, USSR 1928) (Screening format – not known, 85 mins) This avant garde film was compared to Pablo Picasso’s Guernica because of director’s frank depiction of war. Arsenal made Dovzhenko famous not only in the Soviet Union, but also in Western Europe and North America. Ultimately, the National Society of American Film Critics named Arsenal one of the five best films of 1929, along with Karl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. Thematically, the film is close to The Enchanted Place: Dovzhenko’s focus is once again on revolution and civil war in Ukraine, particularly the events that took place at the end of World War I which resulted in an unsuccessful Bolshevik uprising in January 1918 in Kyiv. In Soviet mythology, the uprising at the Arsenal factory is one of the key episodes in the tale of Bolshevik martyrdom in Ukraine. Dovzhenko, enthusiastic about the ideas of national liberation and social revolution, took the events of the uprising to the narrative’s margins, ultimately creating a political film for Ukrainian intelligentsia on both sides of the barricades of the civil war. A vague portrayal of the opposing forces of the uprising and parallel editing of different events leave the viewer with a sense of the chaos of war, rather than with a clear political message or a forced interpretation. At the same time idiosyncratic acting, expressive lighting, camerawork and editing enable the director to bring to life the stories of individual characters and cast them into a broader historical canvas and a clear pacifist message. Find out more atfilmreference.com . Presented as part of an Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Silent Trilogy. With live musical accompaniment by multi-instrumentalist Guy Bartell, founder and the mastermind of group Bronnt Industries Kapital. Introduced by Stanislav Menzelevskyi, Programme Director at Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre. ICA, LondonLink

Sins Of Love (Dir. Karel Lamac, Czech, 1929) (Screening format – Not known, 70mins) The dramatic story of a rural actor whose life is destroyed by a theatre engagement in the big city, and by his obsessive love for his beautiful, much younger wife. When Ivan and Sonia leave the countryside for the city, she becomes a star and takes a lover; so begins a spiral of events that lead to tragedy. Beautifully directed by leading European actor and filmmaker Karel Lamač (who shot newsreels during World War I and with the RAF during the Second World War), The Sins of Love has been restored by the National Film Archive in Prague, and receives its long overdue premiere in the UK. Find out more atkviff.com. With live musical accompaniment. Barbican, London Link

Pandora’s Box (Dir. G W Pabst, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – 35mm known, 135mins) Based on two plays by the German author Frank Wedekind, Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895), which Pabst himself had directed for the stage, and Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora’s Box, 1904), the silent drama follows the tumultuous life of the showgirl Lulu whose unselfconscious sexuality brings about the ruin of all those that fall for her and eventually her own. In a daring move, Pabst chose a little known American actress over the more experienced Marlene Dietrich for the part of Lulu, a decision that made the young Louise Brooks an international star. Her innocent looks paired with her natural erotic allure and sense of movement – Brooks was also a dancer – perfectly matched Pabst’s idea of his heroine as unwitting seductress. Subjected to cuts to eliminate some of its “scandalous” content and unfavourably reviewed by critics at the time, it is now considered one of the boldest and most modern films of the Weimar era highlighting Pabst’s command of camera language and montage. Find out more atsilentlondon.co.uk . With live piano accompaniment and an introduction by Silent London’s Pamela Hutchinson, author of a forthcoming BFI Film Classics book on Pandora’s Box. BFI Southbank, LondonLink

Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 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 atsilentfilm.org . With recorded soundtrack. Neuadd Dwyfor, PwllheliLink

21 November

Man With a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 68mins) Part documentary and part cinematic art, this film follows a city in the 1920s Soviet Union throughout the day, from morning to night. Directed by Vertov, with a variety of complex and innovative camera shots (filmed by Vertov’s equally talented and innovative brother Mikhail Kaufman), the film depicts scenes of ordinary daily life in Russia. Vertov celebrates the modernity of the city, with its vast buildings, dense population and bustling industries. While there are no titles or narration, director and cameraman still naturally convey the marvels of the modern city. Find out more at rogerebert.com . With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano), Susie Green (electronics) and Trevor Bartlett (marimba and percussion). Truck Theatre, HullLink

Battleship Potemkin (Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 75mins) Considered one of the most important films in the history of silent pictures, as well as possibly Eisenstein’s greatest work, Battleship Potemkin brought Eisenstein’s theories of cinema art to the world in a powerful showcase; his emphasis on montage, his stress of intellectual contact, and his treatment of the mass instead of the individual as the protagonist. The film tells the story of the mutiny on the Russian ship Prince Potemkin during the 1905 uprising.Their mutiny was short-lived, however, as during their attempts to get the population of Odessa to join the uprising, soldiers arrived and laid waste to the insurgents. Battleship Potemkin is a work of extraordinary pictorial beauty and great elegance of form. It is symmetrically broken into five movements or acts. In the first of these, “Men and Maggots,” the flagrant mistreatment of the sailors at the hands of their officers is demonstrated, while the second, “Drama on the Quarterdeck,” presents the actual mutiny and the ship’s arrival in Odessa. “Appeal from the Dead” establishes the solidarity of the citizens of Odessa with the mutineers. It is the fourth sequence, “The Odessa Steps,” which depicts the massacre of the citizens, that thrust Eisenstein and his film into the historical eminence that both occupy today. It is unquestionably the most famous sequence of its kind in film history, and Eisenstein displays his legendary ability to convey large-scale action scenes. The shot of the baby carriage tumbling down the long staircase has been re-created in many films. The sequence’s power is such that the film’s conclusion, “Meeting the Squadron,” is almost anticlimactic. Find out more at classicartfilms.com . With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano), Susie Green (electronics) and Trevor Bartlett (marimba and percussion). Truck Theatre, HullLink

22 November

Together (Dir. Lorenza Mazzetti, 1956) (Screening format – DCP, 52mins) A special screening of this dialogue-free film made without synchronised sound by pioneering, Italian-born Lorenza Mazzetti, part of the British ‘Free Cinema’ movement, whose manifesto celebrated ‘freedom’ for filmmakers from orthodoxy and conservatism. The film is a refreshing and sometimes moving slice of everyday working-class life, set in London’s East End. It follows two deaf-mute dockers in the midst of the wary, hearing community. Mazzetti cast the then unknown, 32-year-old Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi in the lead. He relished his role, modelling his performance on Marlon Brando! Find out more atimdb.com. With live musical accompaniment with saxophone and percussion by acclaimed musician/composers Raymond MacDonald and Christian Ferlaino. Chapter, CardiffLink

23 November

Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 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 atsilentfilm.org . With recorded soundtrack. Artrix Arts Centre, BromsgroveLink

24 November

Pandora’s Box (Dir. G W Pabst, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – 35mm, 135mins) Based on two plays by the German author Frank Wedekind, Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895), which Pabst himself had directed for the stage, and Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora’s Box, 1904), the silent drama follows the tumultuous life of the showgirl Lulu whose unselfconscious sexuality brings about the ruin of all those that fall for her and eventually her own. In a daring move, Pabst chose a little known American actress over the more experienced Marlene Dietrich for the part of Lulu, a decision that made the young Louise Brooks an international star. Her innocent looks paired with her natural erotic allure and sense of movement – Brooks was also a dancer – perfectly matched Pabst’s idea of his heroine as unwitting seductress. Subjected to cuts to eliminate some of its “scandalous” content and unfavourably reviewed by critics at the time, it is now considered one of the boldest and most modern films of the Weimar era highlighting Pabst’s command of camera language and montage. Find out more atsilentlondon.co.uk . Presented by South West Silents. With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney and an introduction by Silent London’s Pamela Hutchinson, author of a forthcoming BFI Film Classics book on Pandora’s Box. Cube Cinema, BristolLink

Peter Pan (Dir. Herbert Brenon, US, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 105mins) J M Barrie’s famous story of Peter Pan, a magical boy who refuses to grow up, brings the Darling children (Wendy, John, and Michael) from London to Neverland where they have adventures that include a confrontation with the pirate Captain Hook and his crew. Betty Bronson was personally selected by Barrie to play Petr Pan in a film that is an awful lot darker than the Disney version. Find out more at imdb.com . With live organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. Caird Hall, DundeeLink

25 November

Earth (Dir. Oleksandr Dovzhenko, USSR 1930) (Screening format – not known, 75 mins) Earth, the final part of Dovzhenko’s silent trilogy, is undoubtedly the most famous and controversial movie of the Ukrainian Soviet silent film heritage. Full of lyrical pantheism and utopian exaltation, it demonstrated the ambiguity of Ukrainian geopolitical choice in the late 1920s. The simple plot tells the story of a small Ukrainian village on the eve of collectivisation. Vasyl, the leader of the activist youth, is trying to engage villagers into the collective farm movement while waiting for a technical miracle: a tractor, the forerunner of the new era. Finally, he ploughs a boundary separating the private plots from the collective ones. This enthusiasm costs Vasyl his life, but makes him a martyr – a necessary sacrifice for the new social order. Although Earth fits the tradition of Soviet propaganda films, Dovzhenko’s interest in human condition and its bond with nature takes the film beyond the propaganda realm. As told by Dovzhenko, an ordinary tale of a class struggle becomes a universal philosophical parable about life and death. Criticised severely for its naturalism and physiologism, the film was banned nine days after its release in the Soviet Union and was given a credit in Ukraine only after Dovzhenko’s death. Earth hit the headlines only in 1958, when the International Referendum in Brussels praised the film as one of the best 12 films in the history of cinema. It was voted to be one of the top ten silent films by The Guardian and The Observer. Find out more atsensesofcinema.com . Presented as part of an Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Silent Trilogy. With live musical accompaniment by Ukraine world music quartet DakhaBrakha. The screening is followed by a panel discussion featuring Rory Finnin (Head of Slavonic Studies and Director of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge) and Philip Cavendish (Reader in Russian and Soviet Film Studies at School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies at UCL). The discussion is moderated by Marina Pesenti, Director of the Ukrainian Institute in London. ICA, London. Link

26 November

Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 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 With recorded soundtrack. Arts Picture House, Cambridge Link

Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 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 . Presented as part of the London Labour Film Festival. With recorded soundtrack. Prince Charles Cinema, London Link

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) A serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the #avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more atsilentfilm.org . Presented as part of the Cinecity Brighton Film Festival. With a brand-new score composed by Neil Brand and performed live by the 12-piece Covent Garden Sinfonia conducted by Ben Palmer. Duke of York’s Picture House, Brighton Link.

Man With A Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – DCP, 68mins) “An experiment in the creative communication of visible events without the aid of inter-titles, a scenario or theatre “aiming at creating a truly international absolute language of cinema,” is how the inter-titles describe what is about to be seen. Bold claims indeed, but in its awesome sophistication The Man with a Movie Camera does live up to them, making it one of the most contemporary of silent movies. The subject, the life of a city from dawn to dusk, was not original even for 1928, but its treatment was–the cameraman as voyeur, social commentator and prankster, exploiting every trick permissible with the technology of the day (slow motion, dissolves, split screens, freeze frames, stop motion animation, etc). A young woman stirs in her bed, apparently fighting a nightmare in which a cameraman is about to be crushed by an oncoming train. She wakes up, and the sequence is revealed to be a simple trick shot. As she blinks her weary eyes, the shutters of her window mimic her viewpoint, and the iris of the camera spins open. Self-reflexive wit like this abounds here–there’s even a delicious counterpoint made between the splicing of film and the painting of a woman’s nails. Find out more at openculture.com . With recorded soundtrack. BFI Southbank, LondonLink

28 November

Assunta Spina (Dir. Gustavo Serena and Francesca Bertini, It, 1915) + Bologna Monumentale (Dir. ? , It, 1912) (Screening format – DCP, 70/5 mins) Assunta Spina is one of the great films of Italian silent cinema. Shot in fall 1914 in Naples the picture shows the city’s soul, scrutinizes its every aspect, realistically portraying the serenity and beauty of its most colorful areas, the chaotic frenzy of its neighborhoods and markets, as well as the run-down state of the working class suburbs. The film tells the dramatic story of laundress Assunta Spina (Francesca Bertini) engaged to a violent butcher Michele (Gustavo Serena) but courted by the handsome Raffaele (Luciano Albertini). When, in a jealous rage, Michele slashes Assunta’s face with a knife the scene is set for high drama and tragedy. The film reveals the spirit of Neapolitans, emphasizing their exuberance and passion but also their vengefulness and unrestrained reactions that often degenerate into violence.But Bertini and Serena are not the film’s only main characters: the unlucky laundress’s shawl, in Bertini’s skilled hands, comes to life and acts as a kind of metronome marking the various stages of the tragedy as it unfolds. When approached by the studio to star in the film, Bertini only accepted as long as she was also the film’s writer and director. But Bertini demonstrated skill and sensitivity in this, her directorial debut. Find out more atmedium.com/cuny-fashion/film-review-assunta-spina . Bologna Monumentale is a short “tourist” documentary on the city of Bologna. Presented as part of a short series entitled Il Cinema Ritrovato: The Shock of the Old, featuring films restored and presented as this year’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna. With recorded soundtrack. Close-Up Cinema, London, E1 Link

29 November

Ma l’Amor Mio Non Muore (aka Everlasting Love, Dir. Mario Casarini, It, 1913) (Screening format – DCP, 80mins) When her father, Colonel Holbein, commits suicide following a spy scandal his daughter Elsa is exiled from the Grand Duchy of Wallenstein. Finding new found success under an assumed identity as a singer and actress she is courted by Wallenstein’s Crown Prince, unaware of her real identity. But the spy responsible for her father’s death returns, bringing tragedy in his wake. In 1913, Lyda Borelli as at the apex of her theatrical career, performing in Italy’s most famous theatres. Written specifically for her, Ma l’Amor Mio Non Muore was her first film appearance. Produced by the Turin-based company Gloria Film and directed by Mario Caserini, apart from the espionage theme the film also revolves around the theater, giving Borelli an opportunity to re-enact some of her most famous stage scenes. The film was an international success and turned Borelli into a huge film star. It also started a new phenomenon: the Italian diva-film. Find out more at silentsplease . Presented as part of a short series entitled Il Cinema Ritrovato: The Shock of the Old, featuring films restored and presented as this year’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna. With recorded soundtrack. Close-Up Cinema, London, E1 Link

Romu-Mattila and a Beautiful Lady (Dir. Juho Kuosmanen, Fin, 2012) + The Moonshiners (Dir. Juho Kuosmanen, Fin, 2017) (Screening format – not known, 30/16 mins) Romu-Mattila is a gloomy story based on true events about an elderly man faced with eviction. It’s followed by The Moonshiners, a remake of the sadly lost first ever Finnish fiction film (1907), a farce centred on a subject ever-important to the Finns: distilling spirits. Director Juho Kuosmanen introduces the films. With live musical accompaniment from the Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri and the internationally renowned foley wizard Heikki Kossi. Barbican, London Link

30 November

Phantom Of The Opera (Dir. Rupert Julian, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 103mins) A title that needs no introduction, The Phantom of the Opera has spawned many remakes, remasters and sequels. This original film version, produced with moments of early Technicolour, sees Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ perform one of his most iconic roles. His ghastly make-up and outrageous performance made this title a benchmark in the American silent film era. The film was a critical and commercial success upon release, and still stands as an important film in cinematic history to this day, with press quotes from the time labelling the film an ‘ultra-fantastic melodrama’ (New York Times), ‘produced on a stupendous scale’ (Moving Picture World) and ‘probably the greatest inducement to nightmare that has yet been screened’ (Variety). The mysterious phantom (Lon Chaney) is a vengeful composer living in the catacombs under the Paris Opera House, determined to promote the career of the singer he loves (Mary Philbin). Famed for the phantom’s shock unmasking, incredible set designs and the masked ball sequence, it still packs a punch. Find out more atwikipedia.org. With live organ accompaniment by Darius Battiwalla. Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester 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 traveling any distance to attend.

Silentfilmcalendar.org

The silent film listing site

November 2017

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