Festivals 2017
National
January
19-22 January Slapstick Festival (featuring a considerable number of silent films including Shooting Stars ( Dir. Anthony Asquith, 1928), Why Be Good (Dir. William A Seiter, 1929), Kid Boots (Dir. Frank Tuttle 1926), Thomas Graal’s Best Film (Dir. Mauritz Stiller, 1918), a look at the films of Raymond Griffith introduced by Kevin Brownlow plus the collaboration of Buster Keaton and Samuel Beckett in Film (1964) together with a new documentary about the making of this film, Bristol
February
24 February – 12 March Borderlines Film Festival This fifteenth annual Borderlines Film Festival runs in the Shropshire, Hereford and Marches areas and screens some quality silents, including this year the Keaton classic The General (1926), Danish silent screen superstar Asta Nielsen in Hamlet (1921) and Shoes (1916) a key film from little known female silent film pioneer Lois Weber, all with live musical accompaniment. There will also be another chance to catch up with Able Gance’s classic Napoleon (1927) featuring Carl Davis’ recorded score. Various venues. Link
March
11 March Kennington Bioscope Silent Western Saturday A day of rarely screened silent westerns, cowboys and cowgirls. Films include The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926), Thundering Hoofs (Dir. Albert Rogell, 1924) and The Devil Horse (Dir. Fred Jackman, 1926). There isalso a special feature on silent cowgirl films including b-western star Texas Guinan. The Cinema Museum, Lambeth. Link .
22-26 March HippFest – Seventh Hippodrome Festival of Silent Film, Scotland’s premier silent film festival takes place in Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinema, with a range of British and international silent films all with live musical accompaniment. This year’s programme includes The Grub Stake (1923), the BFI’s recently restored print of The Informer (1929), Conrad Veidt in the classic Hands of Orlac (1924), the little known Chinese silent superstar Ruan Lingyu in The Goddess (1934), a Soviet ‘western’ By The Law (1926) and a cracking good Marion Davis comedy The Patsy (1928). Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness, Scotland Link
June
10-11 June 3rd Annual Kennington Bioscope Silent Film Weekender An unrivaled programme of rare, unique and little seen silents, presented by leading silent film historians with live music by some of the country’s finest silent accompanists. Cinema Museum, London Link
September
14-17 September 19th British Silent Film Festival Britain’s premier silent film festival with live musical accompaniment by some of the finest national and international accompaniests. Full programme details yet to be confirmed. Phoenix Cinema, Leicester
November
11 November Silent Laughter Saturday Festival Presented by the Kennintington Bioscope with live piano accompaniment. Film titles to be confirmed. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, London. Link
International
February
25-27 February Kansas Silent Film Festival In its 21st year the Kansas Silent Film Festival’s mission is to provide an entertaining and educational forum for silent films and it’s one of the few festivals to do so for free. Every year, on the last weekend in February, from Friday night through Saturday night, come rain or snow or shine, the festival showcases films from the silent era with live musical accompaniment. All films are shown on a big screen like they were originally intended. Topeka, Kansas, USA Link
March
8-12 March 15th Karlsruhe Silent Film Festival (With a particular focus this year on the work of F W Murnau, featuring Nosferatu, The Last Man, Sunrise and Taboo.) ZKM Medientheater, Karlsruhe, Germany Link
April
6-11 April Toronto Silent Film Festival Films include new restorations of Sherlock Holmes (Dir. Arthur Berthelet, 1916) and L’Inhumaine (Marcel L’Herbier, 1924) plus Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Marion Davies and many more Various cinemas, Toronto, Canada
21-23 April 5th Loud Silents Film Festival Finnish top-notch artists and internationally acclaimed silent film musicians compose new soundtracks for classic silent films. Programme to be confirmed. Tampere, Finland Link
28-30 April Denver Silent Film Festival The Denver Silent Film Festival was established in September of 2010. It presents a broad spectrum of silent film by programming a lively and thought-provoking mix of educational and entertaining films. American and foreign classics, as well as lesser-known rare and restored films will be presented. This year’s festival includes Ben Hur, Tol’able David, Phantom of the Opera and The Unholy Three. Full programme to be announced. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Link
May
5-7 May The 3rd Nitrate Picture Show This festival of film conservation features screenings of vintage nitrate prints from international archives—including the Eastman Museum’s own collection—as well as lectures, workshops, and other opportunities to experience the art and science of film preservation, from print conservation to archival projection. “The Nitrate Picture Show is unlike any other festival of film preservation in that its ‘rules of the game’ are far more challenging—and often unpredictable,” said Paolo Cherchi Usai, Senior Curator, Moving Image Department, George Eastman Museum. “Our selection is based primarily on the physical condition and on the pictorial beauty of the prints; the quality and reputation of the works themselves comes next.” Passes will be available for purchase through the museum’s website. Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York, USA Link
25-28 May Cinevent 2017 This is a gathering of fans of silent and early sound films, and of collectors of motion pictures and related items. Movie screenings take place nearly continually every day of the convention. Dealers fill over a hundred tables full of film, video, sound recordings, posters, stills, lobby cards, books, autographs…everything imaginable associated with film. Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Link
June
1-4 June San Francisco Silent Film Festival Full programme yet to be announced but includes screening of rediscovered lost Cecil B. DeMille production—Silence—which is being restored by the Cinémathèque Française and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival . Also, the Alloy Orchestra will premiere its new score for one of the most intriguing films of the silent era, Teinosuke Kinugasa’s A Page of Madness, in a new restoration. Castro Theatre, San Francisco, USA Link
24 June – 1 July Il Cinema Ritrovato, A festival dedicated to the rediscovery of rare and little-known films with a particular focus on the origins of cinema and the silent movie period. It is organised every summer by the Cineteca di Bologna and is one of the world’s major festivals of film restoration. Bologna, Italy Link
August
11-13 August Capitolfest – Capitolfest is Central New York’s premier summer Cinephile film festival—a place to see rarely-shown and newly-discovered films of the silent and early talkie era, held at the historic 1,788-seat movie palace, the Capitol Theatre, which opened in December, 1928. Set in the small upstate New York city of Rome, Capitolfest 15 promises to surpass its fourteen previous installments, with three days of eclectic and critically-acclaimed programming. Each year a “tribute star,” is selected and several of their films are showcased throughout the weekend. Capitolfest 15’s star will be Fay Wray! Capitol Theatre, Rome, New York, USA Link
31 August – 3 September 11th Manila International Silent Film Festival Staged this year in association with the Philippine-Italian Association, the Japan Foundation Manila, Goethe-Institut Philippinen, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Instituto Cervantes, the British Council, and the Embassies of the United States of America, France and Austria. Films include El Gilfo (Sp, 1918), Underground (UK, 1928), Dragnet Girl (Jap, 1933), Cafe Elektric (Aust, 1927), Pandora’s Box (Ger, 1929) and The General (US, 1926). Films accompanied by the best Filipino musicians on the scene and a French-Vietnamese guest artist. Shang Cineplex of Shangri-La Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City Link
September
30 September – 7 October 36th Pordenone Silent Film Festival Running since 1982 as a collaborative effort between La Cineteca del Friuli in Gemona and the Cinemazero filmclub in Pordenone, the Giornate del Cinema Muto, aka Pordenone Silent Film Festival, has established itself as the leading international event dedicated to the preservation, diffusion, and study of the first thirty years of cinema. Cinema Verdi, Pordenone, Italy Link
October
20-22 October Marie Dressler Foundation – Vintage Film Festival In 1992, a group of film enthusiasts involved in the restoration of the Marie Dressler house had a wild idea. Why not hold a festival showing the films in which Marie Dressler had starred? This seemingly fantastic idea grew into the present form in which they show a variety of films generally made before about 55-60 years ago, often, although not always, including a film starring Marie Dressler. Capitol Theatre, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada Link
December
14 – 17 December 4th International Istanbul Silent Movie Days Featuring unique and un-rivalled movies restored from different archives all over the world. . Some of the most important musicians of the world, including John Sweeney, Günter Buchwald, Frank Bockius and Daniele Furlati, will accompany the silent movies. Films being screened include Lois Weber’s The Dumb Girl of Portici, Pola Negri in Mania and Ernst Lubitsch’s Die Puppe. Istambul, Turkey Link
